SANTA  BARBARA  COUEE 


Ex  Xibris 

This  book  ws  presented  to  the  Industrial  Division 
Library    of    Santa    Barbara    State    College    by 


LibrarfCollection  Sponsored  by  Pi  SIGMA  CHI 


(fvf 


The  picture  opposite  the  title-page  is  a  reprint  of 
a  page  from  the  volume  of  plates,  made  in  1771,  to 
illustrate  Diderot's  Encyclopaedia.  This  page  is  one 
of  six,  each  8x12  ins.  in  the  original,  illustrating  the 
article  in  the  encyclopaedia  on  binding. 

The  picture  in  the  upper  part  of  the  plate  repre- 
sents a  binder's  workshop.  The  person  at  A  is  beat- 
ing a  book.  The  woman  at  B  is  sewing.  The  man 
at  C  is  cutting  or  trimming  the  edges  of  a  book.  The 
man  at  D  is  working  a  press. 

Of  the  figures  below:  i  is  a  piece  of  marble  on 
which  books  are  beaten;  2  is  a  piece  of  marble  of 
different  shape  for  the  same  purpose;  3  is  a  beating 
hammer;  4  is  a  sewing  table  or  bench,  on  which  books 
are  sewn ;  5  and  6  are  balls  of  thread  for  sewing  books ; 
figures  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  and  12  are  parts  of  a  sewing 
bench;  13  and  14  are  large  and  small  paper  folders. 


Notes   on 

Bookbinding  for  Libraries 


By 

John    Cotton    Dana 

Librarian  Free   Public   Library, 
Newark,  N.  J. 


Library  Bureau,  Chicago 
1906 


COPYRIGHTED 

1906 
LIBRARY   BUREAU 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SANTA  BARBARA  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 


Naude  on  Binding 

"The  fourth  is,  to  retrench  &  cut  off  all  the  super- 
fluous expences,  which  many  prodigally  and  to  no 
purpose  bestow  upon  the  binding  and  ornaments  of 
their  Books,  and  to  employ  it  in  purchasing  such  as 
they  want,  that  so  they  may  hot  be  obnoxious  to  that 
censure  of  Seneca,  who  handsomly  reproaches  those, 
Quibus  v  aluminum  suorum  frontes  maxime  placent  titu- 
lique ;  &  this  the  rather,  that  the  binding  is  nothing 
but  an  accident  &  form  of  appearing,  without  which 
(at  least  so  splendid  and  sumptuous)  Books  become 
altogether  as  useful,  commode  &  rare;  it  becoming 
the  ignorant  onely  to  esteem  a  Book  for  its  cover; 
seeing  it  is  not  with  Books,  as  it  is  with  men,  who 
are  onely  known  and  respected  for  their  robes  and 
their  clothes,  so  that  it  is  a  great  deal  better,  and 
more  necessary,  for  example,  to  have  a  good  quan- 
tity of  Books,  well  &  ordinarily  bound,  than  to  have 
a  little  Chamber  or  Cabinet  full  of  washed,  gilded, 
ruled,  and  enriched  with  all  manner  of  nicity,  lux  and 
superfluity." 

From  John  Evelyn's  translation  of  Gabriel  Naude's 
"Instructions  Concerning  Erecting  of  a  Library." 
London.  1661.  Chapter  5. 


SAHTA  BARBARA  COLLEGE  LIBRART 


Contents 

Illustration  of  bookbinder's  shop,  1771.  Facing  title-page. 

Naud6  on  binding       .  .  ...  .  .7 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    Introduction        .           .           .           .           .  11 

II.     Binding:  the  process           ....  20 

III.  Rebinding:  special  notes          ...  30 

IV.  Bindings  for  a  library         ....  38 
V.    Specifications           .            .            .            .            .  41 

VI.    Pamphlets    ......  45 

VII.    The  literary  side            ....  49 

VIII.    Paper  making:  a  brief  outline       ...  54 

IX.     Leather:  general  notes              ...  63 

X.    List  of  leathers,  with  descriptive  notes   .           .  71 

XL    Book  cloths,  and  imitations  of  leather           .  78 

XII.    Technical  terms  used  in  bookbinding      .            .  83 

XIII.  Styles  of  ornament        ....  06 

XIV.  Repairing  books      .....  99 
XV.     Repairing  books:  material  and  tools  .            .  105 

XVI.    Binding  records       .....  108 

Makers  and  dealers  in  bookbinders' materials          .  no 
A  few  of  the  best  books  on  bookbinding  .            .            .          112 

Index        .......  115 


CHAPTER  I 

Introduction 

As  the  title  indicates  these  notes  have  been  com- 
piled in  the  hope  that  they  may  be  of  assistance  to 
librarians  in  caring  for  the  binding  and  rebinding  of 
library  books.  They  hardly  touch  upon  publishers' 
binding  or  the  decoration  of  bindings.  The  sugges- 
tion and  advice  they  give  should  not  be  taken  as 
final,  for  the  binding  and  rebinding  question  is  not 
yet  settled.  They  may  help  some  to  carry  out  more 
successfully  their  own  inquiries  and  experiments.  If 
good  binders  were  more  common  librarians  would 
need  little  of  the  information  here  briefly  set  forth. 
But  under  the  present  conditions  of  the  bookbinder's 
art  in  this  country  librarians  themselves  must  often 
furnish  considerable  expert  knowledge,  if  they  wish 
their  work  well  done. 

I  have  refrained  from  going  much  into  the  details 
of  the  process  of  binding.  The  details  can  only  be 
made  clear  by  means  of  illustrations,  and  have  al- 
ready been  most  admirably  set  forth  in  Douglas 
Cockerell's  book.  I  have  tried  to  draw  attention  to 
the  important  points.  The  librarian  ought  to  know 
good  results  when  he  sees  them,  or  at  least  when  he 
tests  them  on  his  books;  the  details  of  every  step  he 

ii 


12  BOOKBINDING   FOR   LIBRARIES 

can  learn  if  he  will,  by  a  little  practice  and  a  good 
deal  of  observation.  No  librarian  should  try  to  bind 
tor  to  conduct  personally  his  own  bindery.  Binding 
is  a  special  trade,  and  skill  and  speed  in  it  come  only 
by  long  practice.  The  librarian  cannot  become  a 
skilled  binder.  He  should  become  familiar  with  the 
results  of  the  binding  he  gets  by  a  study  of  his  books. 
If  he  finds  they  do  not  wear  well,  but  rot,  break  or 
show  loose  pages,  let  him  keep  a  few  statistics,  and 
if  he  learns  he  is  wasting  money  on  cheap  work  or 
poor  material,  let  him  change  his  material  and  his 
processes,  and  perhaps  his  binder.  I  hope  this  book 
may  lead  some  to  test  the  work  they  are  now  getting, 
and  may  help  some  to  get  more  satisfactory  work- 
manship and  more  enduring  materials.  It  is  not  a 
guide  to  the  craft  of  binding.  To  get  good  binding, 
go  to  a  good  binder;  to  learn  about  the  binding  craft, 
practice  it  and  read  Cockerell;  to  discover  if  your 
binding  is  good,  watch  it  and  gather  statistics  of  its 
wear. 

Much  of  the  information,  many  reports  of  experi- 
ences and  many  suggestions  will  be  found  in  the  lists 
of  leathers,  etc.,  and  definitions  of  terms  used  in 
binding.  It  seemed  unwise  to  repeat  them  as  part 
of  a  connected  text. 

In  considering  the  subject  of  economical  binding 
and  rebinding  for  libraries,  we  find  that  we  are  en- 
tirely without  standards.  We  have  no  figures  for 
comparisons.  Librarians  have,  save  in  a  very  few 
cases,  made  no  study  of  the  comparative  value  of 
bindings,  either  of  original  cloth  or  of  the  rebindings 


INTRODUCTION  13 

they  have  had  put  on  their  books.  If  a  few  librarians 
would  note  the  number  of  times  books  can  be  issued 
without  rebinding  after  they  are  received  in  the  orig- 
inal publisher's  cloth,  and  how  many  issues  they  will 
stand  after  they  have  been  once,  or  twice,  rebound, 
they  would,  in  a  few  months,  have  data  from  which 
they  could  draw  helpful  conclusions  in  regard  to  the 
comparative  value  of  bindings  and  rebindings. 

The  test  of  a  binding,  whether  publishers'  original, 
special  from  the  sheets,  or  a  rebinding,  lies,  for  ordi- 
nary lending  books,  in  the  ratio  of  its  cost  to  the 
number  of  times  the  book  it  covers  is  lent  for  home 
use  before  being  discarded.  This  ratio  has  rarely 
been  systematically  noted. 

To  the  inquiry,  does  the  method  of  rebinding 
which  my  library  now  employs  give  the  best  possible 
return  for  the  money  spent?  most  librarians  must  re- 
ply that  they  do  not  know. 

Reference  and  college  libraries  are  often  also 
much  in  the  dark.  The  continued  quite  general  use 
for  permanent  bindings  of  a  leather  which  tests  have 
shown  will  not  last  over  25  or  30  years  at  the  most 
is  an  evidence  of  this. 

In  England,  as  is  well  known,  a  good  many  years 
of  careful  observation  and  comparison  of  experi- 
ments have  led  a  large  number  of  librarians  to  the 
conclusion  which  some  American  librarians  also  ac- 
cept, that  first-class  bindings,  even  at  what  seems  like 
a  high  figure,  put  on  before  a  book  has  received  any 
wear  at  all,  directly  from  the  publishers'  sheets,  is 
the  part  of  sound  economy. 


14  BOOKBINDING    FOR   LIBRARIES 

I  sent  a  letter  of  inquiry  to  a  large  number  of  li- 
braries asking  for  detailed  information  about  the 
wear  of  books  in  publishers'  bindings  and  in  the  one 
or  more  rebindings  which  were  placed  on  them. 
Replies  were  received  from  18  libraries,  giving  brief 
life  histories  of  74  books.  Definite  conclusions  can- 
not be  drawn  from  these  reports,  as  librarians  differ 
much  in  their  ways  of  treating  books.  Some  rebind 
them  as  soon  as  they  show  serious  signs  of  wear; 
others  keep  them  in  circulation  long  after  they  have 
begun  to  go  to  pieces.  But  the  figures  indicate  that 
it  would  pay  these  libraries,  as  it  probably  would  all 
others,  to  get  most  of  the  books  which  are  to  be  sub- 
jected to  much  handling  strongly  bound  direct  from 
publishers'  sheets. 

The  reports  show  that  74  books  cost,  including 
first  price,  rebinding  and  labor  of  handling  for  re- 
binding,  an  average  of  $1.38  each;  that  they  were 
lent  an  average  of  79  times  in  the  two  states,  new 
and  rebound;  and  that  they  were  out  of  use  an 
average  of  five  weeks  while  being  rebound.  A  book 
of  a  nature  similar  to  those  reported  on,  well-bound 
from  publishers'  sheets  costs  about  $1.50;  can  be  lent 
from  100  to  150  times  and  loses  no  time  in  being 
rebound. 

Of  these  books  52  were  rebound  a  second  time  at 
an  average  cost,  including  labor  in  preparation,  of  40 
cents;  were  out  of  use  an  average  of  five  weeks;  and 
were  lent  an  average  of  43  times  each  in  this  second 
binding.  The  complete  history  of  the  books  a  sec- 
ond time  rebound  is  as  follows: 


INTRODUCTION  1 5 

First  cost  .95 

Cost  of  first  rebinding  .36 

Cost  of  time  in  handling  .07 

Cost  of  second  rebinding  .33 

Cost  of  time  in  handling  .07 


Total  cost  1.78 

Times  lent  in  publishers'  cloth  32 

Times  lent  in  first  rebinding  47 

Times  lent  in  second  rebinding  43 

122 

Time  out  of  use  first  rebinding        5.5    weeks 

Time  out  of  use  second  rebinding  5.      weeks 

Total  time  out  of  use     10.5  weeks 

These  figures  do  not  tell  the  whole  story.  The 
book  bound  strongly  and  flexibly  from  publishers' 
sheets  is  from  the  first  more  convenient  to  handle 
and  pleasanter  to  read,  and  usually  looks  better 
throughout  all  its  one  long  life  than  do,  on  the  aver- 
age, those  books  which  twice  or  thrice  in  their  his- 
tories get  into  a  broken-backed,  loose-leaved,  gener- 
ally disreputable  condition.  Furthermore,  and  this 
is  most  important,  a  book  is  most  wanted  in  a  library 
when  it  is  new;  if  sent  out  to  be  rebound  for  five 
and  a  half  weeks  after  it  has  been  lent  32  times  it  is 
out  of  use  just  when  it  is  most  in  demand;  and  the 
library  loses  in  its  effectiveness — that  is,  in  the  serv- 
ice it  can  render  its  public  for  the  money  expended— 
much  more  than  the  mere  difference  in  the  money 
cost  of  the  two  kinds  of  binding  would  indicate. 
The  durable  first  binding  gives  us  a  book  which  can 
be  in  constant  service  from  ioo  to  150  times  from 


i6 


BOOKBINDING   FOR   LIBRARIES 


the  day  it  goes  to  the  shelves,  just  when  it  is  most 
needed.    A  book  once  or  twice  rebound  in  the  first  few 
months  of  its  life  is  a  special  source  of  annoyance — 
the  paradox  is  permissible  —by  its  very  absence. 
Table  of  life  histories: 


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Totals  74 

70  20 

575 

26  99 

99 

5   22 

844 

17  09 

58 

3  84 

472 

Averages  for 
each  Book      95 

32 

36 

07 

47 

33 

5 

07 

43 

In  the  Newark  library  an  examination  of  56  books, 
chiefly  novels,  from  15  or  20  different  publishers, 
shows  that  on  the  average  they  were  lent  in  publish- 
ers' binding  only  25  times  each  before  being  rebound; 


INTRODUCTION  17 

and  that  42  books  in  the  juvenile  department  were 
lent  in  the  publishers'  binding  an  average  of  only  17 
times  each. 

In  bindings  and  rebindings  one  of  the  most  essen- 
tial things  to  be  secured  is  ease  of  opening.  A  book 
that  opens  out  easily,  and  lies  flat  without  being 
pressed  or  held  in  position,  will  probably  keep  clean 
and  whole  for  more  than  twice  as  many  lendings  as 
one  that  is  held  together  tightly  at  the  back.  As  a 
great  many  of  the  library  books  which  call  for  re- 
bindings  have  to  be  trimmed  at  the  back  and  over- 
cast, it  is  essential  that  the  overcast  sewing  be  of  a 
flexible  nature,  one  that  permits  of  the  easy  opening 
of  the  book.  Probably  few  of  the  factors  in  book 
construction  and  book  injury  have  been  more  effect- 
ive than  the  tight  binding,  held  open  with  difficulty, 
which  is  produced  by  nearly  al!  of  the  current  over- 
casting or  whipstitching. 

Another  point  that  cannot  be  too  strongly  insisted 
on  is  that  books  not  only  differ  from  one  another  in 
their  natures  and  so  require  different  treatment  in 
binding;  but  also  differ  in  the  use  they  are  to  receive, 
and  require  different  bindings  on  that  account. 

It  should  be  understood  that  bookbinding  is  a 
craft  in  the  best  sense  of  that  word.  To  bind  a  book 
well  calls  for  good  judgment  and  care  at  every  step. 
The  librarian  can  draw  up  schedules  with  infinity  of 
detail,  and  make  them  as  correct  as  he  may  please, 
basing  them  on  experience  without  end;  and  the 
binder,  so  far  as  material  and  processes  are  concerned, 
may  seem  to  follow  these  specifications  exactly,  and 


l8  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

still  may  produce  poor  bindings.  To  secure  a  good 
binding  the  spirit  of  the  binder  must  go  into  it.  In 
drawing  the  thread,  in  paring  and  placing  the 
leather,  in  applying  the  paste  and  glue,  and  in 
every  other  of  the  many  processes  involved,  the 
man  without  good  will,  as  the  man  without  skill, 
can  spoil  the  whole  binding.  Librarians  should 
learn  to  esteem  bookbinding  highly.  It  is  a  craft 
which  lies  close  to  them.  It  is  preeminently  their 
business  to  encourage  it  to  grow  in  excellence.  They 
should  develop  their  local  binder's  interest  in  his 
calling,  stand  by  him,  urge  him  on  to  better  work, 
and  pay  him  adequately  for  it. 

One  may  frankly  say  that  the  character  of  bind- 
ing done  in  nearly  all  libraries  in  America  has  been, 
up  to  the  present  time,  a  discredit  to  the  library  pro- 
fession. We  owe  it  to  ourselves  to  take  up  this  craft 
and  do  what  we  can  to  elevate  it. 

One  objection  sometimes  made  to  bindings  of  the 
highest  grade  is  that  they  last  too  long;  and  after  the 
book  is  too  greatly  soiled  and  tattered  within  to  be 
longer  kept,  the  binding  itself  still  holds,  showing 
that  more  care  has  been  put  into  its  construction, 
and  consequently  more  cost,  than  it  needed.  The 
objection  needs  only  to  be  stated  for  its  absurdity  to 
be  seen.  The  thorough  binder,  the  skilled  craftsman, 
adapts  his  binding  to  the  book  and  to  the  use,  as  far 
as  he  can  judge  of  it,  which  it  is  to  receive. 

He  binds  each  book  so  well  that  it  will  hold  to- 
gether to  the  end  of  time;  or  until  its  paper  fairly 
drops  to  pieces.  He  can  issue  with  each  volume  no 


INTRODUCTION  1 9 

guarantee  that  it  will  not  receive  more  than  its 
proper  baptism  of  dirt  from  careless  borrowers  long 
before  the  paper  in  it  begins  to  give  way  and  fray 
out.  The  binder's  obligation  is  to  bind  the  book  well. 
It  is  the  librarian's  business  to  see  that  the  book  is,  as 
to  its  interior,  well  treated.  As  to  its  binding  last- 
ing too  long,  why  should  the  librarian  concern  him- 
self about  the  shell  after  the  kernel  is  eaten?  It 
should  be  noted  again,  however,  that  a  book  well 
bound,  opening  easily,  and  lying  open  without  pres- 
sure from  fingers  or  thumbs,  keeps  clean  many  times 
longer  than  one  that  opens  hard. 

The  sum  of  all  my  observations  is,  the  best  is  the 
cheapest.  If  a  book  is  worth  binding  let  it  be  bound 
by  the  best  man  available.  If  possible,  buy  books  so 
well  bound  from  the  publishers'  sheets,  that  they  will 
never  need  to  be  bound  again. 

Newark,  N.  J..  J.  C.  D. 

Free  public  library, 

January,  1906. 


CHAPTER  II 
Binding:   The  Process 

Books  are  now  printed  in  large  sheets  from  4  to 
64  pages  at  a  time.  In  many  cases  paper  is  drawn 
from  a  roll  (as  it  is  in  the  printing  of  a  newspaper), 
printed  on  both  sides  in  large  sections  of  64  pages, 
and  cut  and  folded  as  it  leaves  the  press.  These 
sheets,  of  several  pages  each,  after  being  printed, 
are  gathered  into  a  complete  book,  sometimes  by  a 
machine,  and  are  then  sewn  together  by  a  machine. 
This  machine  for  sewing  is  a  comparatively  recent 
invention.  In  most  cases  sewing  done  on  a  machine 
is  not  as  strong  as  the  old-fashioned  hand  sewing. 
The  sections,  or  signatures,  or  folds  of  the  book,  as 
the  several  sets  of  several  pages  each  are  called,  are 
caught  together  only  by  thread;  strings  or  tapes  are 
not  used.  This  sewing  is  then  reinforced  by  a  piece 
of  cloth,  usually  thin,  cheap  muslin,  or  poor  super, 
which  is  pasted  over  the  back  and  allowed  to  extend 
a  little  way  down  each  side.  But  sewing  on  a  ma- 
chine can  be  done  with  strings  added  and  made  very 
strong. 

Covers  for  books  are  now  made  by  machines  into 
which  are  fed  pieces  of  cardboard  and  a  roll  of 
cloth.  The  machine  cuts  the  cloth  into  the  proper 

20 


BINDING:  THE  PROCESS  21 

size,  pastes  it  and  folds  it  over  the  boards  into  a 
cover,  leaving  a  loose  place  between  the  two  boards 
to  be  rilled  by  the  body  of  the  book.  This  cover  is 
then  printed  in  a  machine  much  like  a  printing 
press;  the  gold  of  the  title  on  the  back  or  sides  or 
both,  and  the  colors  or  blank  impressions,  for  orna- 
ment, all  being  impressed  on  it  with  great  rapidity. 
The  completed  cover,  called  a  case,  is  then  pasted 


(9)  (S) 


4 


Sewing 

A  Section  of  Fifteenth  Century  sewing  on  double  bands  with 
head  and  tail  bands. 

B    Section  of  modern  "flexible"  sewing  round  single  bands. 

C    Section  of  ordinary  sewing  with  sunk  bands. 

D  Section  of  tape  sewing  advocated  for  cheap  work  in  place 
of  C. 

From  report  of  the  Committee  on  Leather  for  Bookbinding.  Ed- 
ited for  Society  of  Arts.  London:  Bell  &  Sons,  1905. 


22  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

to  the  sides  of  the  book.  A  book  thus  bound  has 
nothing  to  hold  cover  and  inside  together  save  a 
strip  of  thin  muslin,  with  a  strip  of  paper  which  goes 
over  it,  passing  from  the  back  of  the  book  to  the 
inside  of  the  board  covers.  This  strip  grows  weak 
after  a  little  use  and  frequently  breaks,  or  pulls  away 
from  the  cover,  or  from  the  back,  or  from  both. 
Books  printed  on  cheap  paper  and  folded  and  sewed 
and  bound  by  machinery  in  the  manner  thus  very 
briefly  outlined  can  be  produced  and  sold  at  present 
for  10  cents  each,  or  even  less. 

Books  printed  with  more  care,  on  better  paper, 
with  a  better  quality  of  cloth  on  the  cover,  and  a 
more  elaborate  title  in  real  gold  instead  of  some 
cheaper  imitation  of  it,  books,  that  is,  like  the  novels 
issued  by  the  better  class  of  publishers,  can  be  pro- 
duced in  quantities  of  from  one  to  three  thousand, 
for  from  15  to  30  cents  each.  Few  of  the  novels  put 
on  the  market  today  cost  the  publishers,  for  their 
making  alone,  as  much  as  the  latter  price.  To  this 
must  be  added  a  royalty  to  the  author,  generally 
10%  of  the  retail  price,  the  cost  of  the  management 
of  the  business  and  the  advertising.  In  the  case  of 
small  editions,  one  or  two  thousand,  this  brings  the 
original  cost  of  the  average  work  up  to  50  or  75 
cents.  Suppose  this  book  to  be  offered  at  retail  at 
$1.25.  There  must  then  be  deducted  from  this  retail 
price  the  discount  to  the  jobber,  25  to  40+10%, 
and  the  royalty,  and  the  advertising,  and  the  cost  of 
production,  etc.,  leaving  a  profit  to  the  publisher 
of  from  5  to  20  cents  on  each  volume.  A  well-made 


BINDING:  THE  PROCESS  23 

and  widely  advertised  novel  which  does  not  sell 
more  than  a  thousand  copies  is  not  a  very  profitable 
product  for  a  publisher  to  put  out. 

The  school  text-books  issued  by  the  more  rep- 
utable publishing  houses  are  generally  very  well 
made.  They  are  printed  on  good  paper,  usually 
rather  highly  calendered,  with  good  ink,  are  bound 
with  extra  care,  and  have  good  material  in  their 
covers.  The  competition  between  school  book  pub- 
lishers makes  it  necessary  for  them  in  self-defence 
to  produce  books  which  will  wear  well  in  the  hands 
of  the  average  pupil. 

Up  to  a  few  years  ago  all  books  were  sewn  by  hand, 
the  covers  were  made  by  hand,  and  hand  work  was 
employed  in  putting  book  and  cover  together. 

The  process  of  sewing  by  hand  may  be  briefly 
described  as  follows:  Two  or  more  strings  or  tapes 
are  stretched  between  the  edge  of  a  board  and  a 
stick  held  horizontally  above  it  by  two  uprights. 
The  book  folded  and  ready  for  sewing,  after  having 
been  either  pressed  or  beaten  with  a  hammer  to 
make  it  lie  smooth,  is  held  in  a  vise  and  two  saw 
cuts  are  made  in  the  back  at  about  the  same  dis- 
tance from  each  other  and  from  the  ends.  Two 
smaller  saw  cuts  are  also  made  in  the  back  of  the 
book,  one  between  each  of  the  larger  ones  and  the 
opposite  ends  of  the  back.  The  first  signature — 
the  fold  or  section  made  of  a  large  sheet  folded — of 
the  book  is  laid  on  the  board  so  that  the  larger  saw 
cuts  are  opposite  the  two  strings.  A  thread  is 
passed  through  the  small  cut  at  one  end,  into  the 


24  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

middle  of  the  fold,  then  out  again  by  the  first  string, 
around  the  string,  and  in  again  to  the  middle  of  the 
fold,  then  along  the  inside  of  the  fold  to  the  next 
string,  around  that  string,  along  inside  the  fold,  then 
out  again  at  the  other  small  cut.  The  second  signa- 
ture is  then  laid  on  top  of  the  first.  The  thread  is 
passed  into  the  small  cut,  along  and  around  the  two 
strings,  as  with  the  first  signature,  and  out  at  the 
other  end,  where  it  is  tied  to  the  end  of  the  thread 
which  has  been  left  sticking  out  of  the  first  saw  cut 
for  this  purpose.  This  process  is  continued  until 
the  book  is  all  fastened  together  and  to  the  strings. 
As  the  sewing  goes  on,  the  several  signatures  are 
caught  together  at  the  smaller  holes  at  each  end  by 
passing  the  thread,  as  it  comes  out  of  the  hole, 
down  and  under  the  loop  made  by  the  passing  of 
the  thread  between  the  two  signatures  previously 
sewn.  In  the  case  of  a  book  containing  a  large 
number  of  signatures  the  thread  does  not  extend 
the  whole  length  of  each  fold,  but  passes  from  one 
to  another  as  it  goes  the  length  of  the  book,  gather- 
ing on  two  signatures  at  once.  Sometimes,  by  using 
four  strings  instead  of  two,  the  string  is  made  to 
pass  through  and  to  sew  on  three  signatures  at  a 
time.  Examples  of  this  two-on  and  three-on  method 
can  be  seen  in  almost  any  large  book  bound  prior  to 
15  or  20  years  ago.  In  very  careful  binding  by  hand 
in  the  early  days  of  book-making,  the  strings  were 
not  set  into  saw  cuts;  but  were  simply  laid  across 
the  back  of  the  book.  The  thread  came  out  of  the 
signature  and  passed  around  the  strings,  and  went  in 


BINDING:  THE  PROCESS  25 

again.  The  strings,  with  the  threads  thus  wrapped 
around  them,  made  a  welt  across  the  back  of  the 
book.  These  welts,  when  covered  by  the  leather  of 
the  binding  showed  as  raised  bands.  These  raised 
bands  are  imitated  by  pasting  bits  of  leather  on  the 
back  in  much  so-called  fine  binding  today.  In  some 
cases  the  old  process  is  employed  and  the  bands 
have  a  real  reason  for  existence.  Books  are  some- 
times sewn  on  tapes  or  strips  of  vellum.  These, 
laid  across  the  back,  sometimes  make  ridges  which 
are  treated  as  bands  in  the  completed  book. 

In  old  bindings,  to  give  the  book  a  better  appear- 
ance at  top  and  bottom,  what  is  called  a  headband 
was  put  on  with  thread,  the  thread  passing  through 
the  signatures  and  from  one  signature  to  another  in 
such  a  way  as  still  more  securely  to  hold  these  to- 
gether. Today  the  headband  is  still  used;  but 
usually  it  is  simply  pasted  in  and  is  little  more  than 
an  ornament.  Sometimes  the  book's  back  is  still 
further  reinforced  by  pasting  or  gluing  to  it  a  piece 
of  vellum,  leather  or  heavy  cloth  before  the  process 
of  putting  on  the  cover  begins. 

Set  rules  for  sewing  books  should  not  be  laid 
down  Each  book  is  treated  by  the  skillful  binder, 
•or  should  be,  in  accordance  with  the  character  of  its 
paper,  the  number  of  inserts,  the  thickness  of  the  pa- 
per, the  size  of  the  signatures,  the  size  of  the  leaves, 
the  use  it  is  to  receive,  and  other  facts.  The  good 
binder  binds  each  book  well  according  to  its  kind. 

After  the  book  is  properly  sewn,  the  strings  on 
which  it  is  gathered  are  cut  off  a  short  distance 


26 


BOOKBINDING   FOR   LIBRARIES 


from  the  sides.  Pieces  of  cardboard  are  cut  of  the 
proper  size  for  a  cover.  The  ends  of  the  strings  are 
laced  into  them  or  fastened  down  upon  them  with 
paste  or  glue.  The  leather  for  the  cover  is  then 


Showing  a  method  of  sewing  on  tapes 

The  catching  up  of  the  alternate  groups  of  threads  as  they  cross 
the  bands  renders  the  sewing  firmer.  There  are  other  meth- 
ods of  achieving  this  end. 

From  report  of  the  Committee  on  Leather  for  Bookbinding.  Ed- 
ited for  Society  of  Arts.  London:  Bell  &  Sons,  1905. 


BINDING:  THE  PROCESS  27 

pasted  or  glued  to  the  back  and  the  outside  of  the 
boards.  The  ends  are  turned  over  the  boards  and 
at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  book  are  turned  down 
and  pasted  to  themselves,  thus  forming  a  roll  or 
crown  which  lies  up  close  to  the  headband.  The 
sides  are  then  covered,  if  the  book  is  not  to  be 
bound  in  full  leather,  with  cloth  or  paper  or  other 
material.  The  outside  sheets  of  the  books,  called 
end-sheets,  are  then  pasted  to  the  inside  of  the 
cover  and  the  book  is  practically  complete.  • 

The  back  of  the  book  is  always  covered  with  glue 
after  the  sewing  and  before  the  leather  or  cloth  is 
put  on.  This  glue  is  thin  and  hot,  and  is  put  on  to 
hold  together  the  backs  of  the  signatures.  In  round- 
ing, the  binder  manipulates  the  book  with  the  hands, 
and  taps  it  with  a  hammer  until  the  proper  shape  is 
secured.  In  edition  work  this  is  done  on  a  machine. 
In  backing  the  book  is  held  between  two  metal,  or 
metal-edged,  plates  close  up  to  the  back,  the  back 
having  been  stiffened  previously  with  a  coat  of  glue 
which  has  not  set  very  firmly;  and  with  a  hammer 
the  backs  of  the  signatures  are  pounded  down  and 
out,  making  a  slight  ledge  or  groove  along  the  outer 
edges  against  which  set  later  the  boards  of  the  covers. 

If  the  book  is  to  be  tight  back  the  cloth  or  leather 
is  glued  direct  to  the  backs  of  the  signatures  thus 
rounded,  though  often  a  thin  piece  of  cloth,  super,  is 
first  glued  on,  extending  over  onto  the  sides.  If  it 
is  to  be  loose  back  a  double  fold  of  paper  is  attached 
to  the  back,  one  sheet  to  the  back  and  one  to  the 
cover  material.  The  leather  or  cloth  then  stands  out 


28 

from  the  book,  when  it  is  open,  being  attached  to  it 
only  at  the  joints.  It  is  in  loose  back  binding,  as  said 
above,  that  cloth  or  leather  is  sometimes  glued  fast 
and  with  great  care  to  the  back  before  the  cover 
goes  on,  thus  taking  the  place  of  the  leather  of  the 
cover  in  the  tight  back  book.  In  the  best  binding 
this  backing  extends  over  through  or  past  the  joint 
and  onto  the  sides  or  covers;  and  is  also  firmly  at- 


Showing' method  of  attaching  tape  slips  to  a  split  board  leav- 
ing a  "French  Joint." 

From  report  of  the  Committee  on  Leather  for  Bookbinding.  Ed- 
ited for  Society  of  Arts.     London:  Bell  &  Sons,  1905. 

tached,  at  the  joint,  to  the  leather  of  the  back.  In 
the  Newark  library  we  use  for  this  strengthening 
material,  on  I2mo  books,  bleached  muslin  (stout  cot- 
ton cloth),  on  large  books  like  octavo  magazines, 
and  larger,  cotton  flannel. 

This  description  of  the  process  of  binding  is  a 
suggestive  outline  only.  Enough  has  been  said, 
however,  to  show  that  the  books  sewn  by  hand  and 


BINDING:  THE  PROCESS  29 

fastened  carefully  to  the  cover  as  described  will,  if 
properly  made,  wear  much  longer  than  a  book  bound 
by  machinery,  if  bound  as  above  described.  But, 
just  as  a  machine  properly  handled  can  produce 
paper  of  greater  uniformity  of  thickness  and  of 
a  quality  superior  in  many  respects  to  the  best  hand- 
made paper,  so  the  machines  used  in  binding  can,  if 
properly  handled,  bind  books  even  more  strongly 
than  can  any  save  the  most  careful  workman.  The 
possible  differences  between  machine-made  books 
can  easily  be  noted  in  the  cheap  novels  of  the  day, 
which  are  poorly  bound,  and  well  made  law  books 
and  encyclopaedias.  These  latter  are  often  faith- 
fully put  together  and  will  stand  almost  as  much 
wear  as  any  books  ever  produced. 


CHAPTER    III 

Rebinding:     Special  Notes 

Pull  books  apart  for  rebinding  with  great  care. 
Remove  all  threads  and  old  paste  and  glue.  Smooth 
out  the  backs  by  beating.  Mend  the  back  folds  of 
all  leaves  that  need  it;  but  remember  that  this  can 
be  overdone  by  one  who  does  not  consider  carefully 
the  way  in  which  the  book  is  to  be  rebound.  That 
is,  many  rebindings  are  so  close  and  stiff — they  ought 
not  to  be,  but  they  are — that  ragged  signatures  are 
sufficiently  held  without  mending. 

Put  in  loose  pictures,  if  they  are  to  be  kept;  tip, 
or  guard  as  seems  advisable.  Frequently  in  rebind- 
ing the  illustrations  may  be  dropped  with  no  loss 
either  to  the  reader's  pleasure  or  the  cause  of  art. 

See  that  the  leaves  are  all  in  and  all  complete. 
Take  note  particularly  of  the  leaves  in  front  and 
back.  They  should  not  be  tipped  in.  If  single  sheets 
they  should  be  guarded  and  sewed  in  as  signatures. 

Add  fly  leaves  of  white  laid  book  paper,  about  70 
Ibs.  to  the  ream,  and  end  papers  of  good  rope  ma- 
nilla,  about  60  Ibs.  to  the  ream  or  other  material  ac- 
cording to  the  book's  requirements  and  your  own 
custom.  It  is  in  the  joints  that  the  good  binder  shows 
his  wisdom.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  give  such 

30 


REBINDING:     SPECIAL  NOTES  31 

instructions  as  to  treatment  of  the  front  and  back  of 
a  book  as  will  be  followed  with  good  results  by  the 
average  binder;  though  I  try  to  outline  them  below. 


Showing  the  method  of  "Lacing  in"  the  "slips"  on  a  "Flex- 
ible" bound  book. 

If  depressions  are  cut  in  the  board  as  shown,  the  slips  can  be 
left  with  an  adequate  margin  of  strength  without  clumsiness. 

From  report  of  the  Committee  on  Leather  for  Bookbinding.  Ed- 
ited for  Society  of  Arts.  London:  Bell  &  Sons,  1905. 

Get  a  good  sample  binding  and  see  what  can  be  done, 
and  let  your  binder  come  as  near  to  it  as  he  can. 

All  books  rebound  when  the  sections  or  signatures 
are  in  good  condition,  sew  regular  all  along  on  three 
tapes  each  a  quarter  to  a  half  an  inch  wide.  Some 
say  pass  the  thread  through  the  tape.  Some  prefer 
strings;  but  narrow  tapes  are  better  except  for  large 
books  of  many  and  thin  sections  which  should  be 


32  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

sewn  in  part  at  least  on  strings,  "two  on,"  to  prevent 
the  piling  up  of  too  many  threads  in  the  back. 

Large  books  of  many  thin  sections  sew  thus: 
divide  into  five  equal  parts,  sew  the  first,  third  and 
last  of  these  "all  along,"  the  others  sew  "two  on." 
This  reduces  the  number  of  threads  in  the  back,  yet 
retains  the  "all  along"  sewing  for  those  parts  of  the 
back  subjected  to  the  greater  strain. 

Whipstitch  or  overcast  all  books  which  are  in  such 
condition  that  they  have  to  be  trimmed  at  the  back, 
being  then  simply  piles  of  loose  single  sheets.  In 
this  process  a  light  coat  of  glue  is  first  applied  to  the 
backs  after  they  are  trimmed.  The  book  is  then,  as 
it  is  sewn,  separated  into  thin  sections.  As  each 
section,  after  the  first  two,  is  sewed  the  sewer  goes 
back  and  passes  the  needle  through  the  two  preced- 
ing sections.  Each  section  is  thus  held  by  three  times 
as  many  stitches  as  the  sewer  takes  in  going  once 
along  the  back.  (With  some  kinds  of  paper  it  is  bet- 
ter to  take  up  two  sections  than  three;  some  binders 
usually  take  but  two).  The  stitches  are  taken  as  close 
as  possible  to  the  margin,  not  over  an  eighth  of  an 
inch  from  it.  Each  section  is  pasted  to  the  preceding 
one  by  a  thin  line  of  paste  on  its  margin,  applied  just 
before  it  is  laid  down  to  be  sewn. 

The  first  and  last  sections  are  guarded  before 
sewing  with  a  thin  piece  of  muslin.  This  applies  to 
all  books,  whether  whipstitched  or  not.  The  end 
sheet  or  end  paper  is  also  guarded  with  a  piece  of 
similar  muslin  at  its  fold  before  it  is  sewn.  The  end 
sheet  is  sewed  all  along,  even  in  whipstitched  books 


REBINDING:  SPECIAL  NOTES 


33 


After  the  book  is  sewn,  glued,  rounded  and 
backed,  a  piece  of  stout  muslin  is  glued  to  the  back. 
Some  prefer  thin,  tough  leather;  on  large  books  use 
cotton  flannel.  The  end  of  this  is  pasted  down  on  the 
inside  of  the  cover  when  the  book  is  finished  under 
the  tapes  and  under  the  end  paper  and  the  guard 


Showing  the  advantage  of  a  "French  Joint"  over  an  Ordi- 
nary Joint. 

No.  I.  A  section  of  an  Ordinary  Joint  with  the  board  open 
shows  that  the  creasing  of  the  leather  is  concentrated  on 
one  line. 

No.  2.  A  section  of  a  "French  Joint"  shows  how  this  creasing 
is  distributed  over  a  great  surface,  and  so  enables  sufficient 
flexibility  to  be  obtained  with  much  thicker  leather  than  can 
be  used  with  an  ordinary  joint. 

From  report  of  the  Committee  on  Leather  for  Bookbinding.  Ed- 
ited for  Society  of  Arts.  London:  Bell  &  Sons,  1905. 

upon  the  latter.  The  other  part  of  the  end  sheet  is 
pasted  to  the  first  fly  leaf;  and  between  the  two  lies 
half  of  the  guard  of  the  former. 

If  a  book  is  sewn  on  tapes  or  all  along  in  the  reg- 
ular way,  do  not  tip  in  any  leaves  and  do  not  over- 


34 


BOOKBINDING   FOR    LIBRARIES 


Anatomy  of  a  Joint 

A     Board  of  cover. 

B  B    Unbleached  muslin,  pasted  over  back  after  rounding  and 

backing. 

C  C     Strings  or  tapes  on  which  the  book  is  sewn. 
D  D     End  sheets  of  60  pound  rope  manila.     The  part  at  the 

left  is  pasted  to  the  inside  of  the  board  and  becomes  the 

lining  paper.     B  an  i  C  being  pasted  over  on  to  D,  when  D  is 

pasted  to  A  they  are  carried  with  it  and  lie  under  the  lining 

paper. 
E  E     Jaconet  or  thin  muslin  guard  pasted  on  D  before  the  book 

is  sewn. 

F  F     Fly  leaves,  of  good  book  paper. 
G  G    Jaconet  guard  of  fly  leaves. 

Before  the  book  is  trimmed  F  and  D  are  pasted  together 

and  become  a  doubled  fly  leaf. 
H  H     The  first  signature  of  the  book. 
J  J     Jaconet  guard  of  the  first  signature. 
K  K  K     Paths  of  threads. 
L     Leather  back. 
M     Cloth  or  paper  side. 


REMINDING:    SPECIAL  NOTES  3$ 

cast  any  part  of  it,  but  carefully  mend  signatures  or 
leaves,  if  much  worn,  before  sewing. 

If,  as  not  infrequently  happens,  the  title-page  or 
frontispiece,  or  both,  of  a  book  are  tipped  in  when 
the  book  is  first  put  together,  it  is  difficult  to  treat 
them  properly  when  the  book  is  rebound.  The  usual 
custom  is  to  tip  them  in  again,  if  loose.  The  wiser 
way  is  to  mount  them  on  guards,  fold  the  guard 
around  the  signature  and  sew  through  them  in  the 
regular  manner. 

It  is  possible  to  whipstitch  a  book,  even  one  which 
is  printed  on  stiff  paper,  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  be 
almost  as  flexible  and  open  almost  as  easily  as  if  it 
were  sewn  on  tapes  in  the  regular  way.  It  is  possible 
but  difficult.  Few  have  done  it.  Few  binderies,  if 
any,  in  this  country  have  workers  who  can  and  will 
give  to  the  work  of  whipstitching  the  care  and  thought 
necessary  to  produce  a  good  job. 

Some  strengthen  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  back, 
the  head  and  tail,  by  a  piece  of  cloth  or  tape  passing 
over  the  back  of  the  signatures  and  held  to  them  by 
the  sewing  in  a  manner  difficult  to  describe.  Rein- 
force the  back,  if  leather  or  cloth  of  a  character  to 
call  for  it,  by  cloth  or  other  material  pasted  under 
the  fold  of  the  covering  at  head  and  tail. 

The  best  paste  for  use  in  books  is  that  made  of 
flour  in  the  ordinary  way.  Stir  the  flour  up  in  cold 
water,  then  add  hot  water  and  bring  to  a  boil,  and 
boil  for  several  minutes.  Add  a  little  salt  and  a  little 
alum.  If  it  is  desirable  to  have  the  paste  dry  rapidly, 
add  also  a  little  glue. 


30  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

For  titles  on  books  the  best  material  is  gold. 
Silver  and  Dutch  metal  are  both  unsatisfactory. 

For  printing  titles  in  black  on  cloth  of  light  color 
use  "canvas  ink"  made  for  the  purpose. 

It  is  usually  wise  to  trim  books  when  they  are 
rebound.  But  this  trimming  should  of  course  be  as 
little  as  possible. 


Plates 

The  first  diagram  shows  in  section  a  plate  pasted  on  to  a  leaf  of 
a  book.  This  method  is  faulty,  because  it  takes  up  some  of 
the  back  margin  of  the  leaf;  if  the  leaf  is  pressed  back  the 
plate  is  apt  to  split  off. 

The  second  diagram  shows  the  method  of  attaching  a  p'ate  by 
means  of  a  "guard." 

From  report  of  the  Committee  on  Leather  for  Bookbinding.  Ed- 
ited for  Society  of  Arts.  London:  Bell  &  Sons,  1905. 


REBINDING:  SPECIAL  NOTES  37 

No  rule  can  be  given  as  to  the  glue  to  be  used. 
Let  your  binder  be  sure  that  what  he  uses  is  good, 
whether  the  price  he  pays  be  high  or  low.  He  can 
tell  whether  it  is  good  or  not  by  testing  it.  Glue  pots 
should  be  cleaned  out  frequently.  Glue  should  be 
treated  with  judgment  as  to  heat  and  degree  of  thick- 
ness at  which  it  is  used.  It  is  animal  matter  that 
quickly  changes  its  character  and  loses  its  strength 
under  wrong  conditions. 

The  boards  to  be  used  in  a  book  should  depend, 
as  to  quality  and  thickness,  on  the  character  of  the 
volume  they  cover.  Expensive  boards  on  a  book 
which  will  probably  soon  be  too  dirty  to  be  kept,  are 
not  essential. 

Neither  strings  nor  tapes  need  to  be  laced  into 
the  boards  on  ordinary  library  work.  They  hold 
fairly  well  if  carefully  glued  down  on  the  inside,  and 
very  well  if  pasted  between  two  boards  or  into  a 
split  in  one. 

Some  books  are  best  bound  with  tight  backs,  some 
with  loose.  There  is  no  invariable  rule  in  regard  to 
this;  it  depends  partly  on  the  thickness  of  the  book. 
Very  thick  volumes  should  have  loose  backs,  usually. 

A  good  binding  will  stand  this  test:  Hold  the 
book  in  your  left  hand;  open  the  back  cover;  put  the 
fingers  of  the  right  hand  on  the  back  of  the  book,  the 
right  thumb  on  the  inside  lower  left  corner  of  the 
cover  and  press  as  if  to  break  the  cover  off.  If  the 
book  is  well  bound  it  will  not  easily  give  way 


CHAPTER  IV 
Bindings  for  a  Library 

The  following  notes  on  styles  of  binding  suitable 
for  books  which  are  to  be  subjected  to  different 
kinds  of  use,  may  be  found  helpful. 

All  I2mo  books  which  are  to  be  subjected  to  much 
wear  and  are  likely  to  be  worn  out  or  to  become 
too  much  soiled  to  keep  on  the  shelf  within  five 
years:  Bind  in  half  red  or  light  brown  cow-skin  and 
green  keratol  sides.  Meer's  artificial  leather  also 
makes  quite  good  sides.  English  imperial  morocco 
cloth  sides  wear  and  keep  clean  quite  well.  Dura- 
bline  is  perhaps  best  of  all;  we  have  given  it  only  a 
short  trial.  Three  quarters'  cow-skin  some  think  an 
improvement.  The  cow-skin  should  not  be  very 
heavy.  Buffing  is  usually  too  weak  and  soon  rots. 
Some  pigskin  is  better  than  cow-skin,  but  is  expen- 
sive in  this  country.  Good  cow-skin  costs  16%  cents 
per  square  foot. 

Bind  large  and  small  books  which  are  not  much 
used  in  full  dark  green  imperial  morocco  cloth,  or 
for  a  little  cheaper  binding,  full  dark  blue  art  can- 
vas. Either  of  these  bindings  will  last  indefinitely 
if  not  much  handled.  Of  course  it  may  sometimes 
be  found  wise  to  follow  the  style  of  a  set  in  rebind- 

38 


BINDINGS  FOR  A  LIBRARY  39 

ing  one  volume  from  it;  but  in  most  cases   this  is 
difficult  to  do  with  good  economy  in  the  long  run. 

Periodicals  which  are  to  be  much  handled  bind 
like  other  much-used  books,  in  cow-skin,  etc.,  as  above 
specified. 

Periodicals  and  proceedings  of  societies  and  other 
large  books  which  are  very  little  used  can  be  bound 
also  in  imperial  morocco  cloth,  as  above;  but  a  more 
economical  and  very  satisfactory  binding  for  them 
is  gray  or  light  green  canvas  backs,  lettered  in  black, 
and  dark  blue  canvas  or  imperial  morocco  cloth  sides. 
Some  have  found  full  durabline  excellent. 

Reference  books  which  are  to  be  much  handled 
will  wear  well  in  brown  cow-skin.  A  better,  but 
much  more  expensive  material  is  morocco,  red  and 
brown  being  the  best  colors.  Use  only  the  best  mo- 
rocco. 

Books  bound  in  leather,  unless  the  sides  are  cov 
ered  with  a  very  stout  cloth  or  a  material  like  keratol, 
should  usually  have  corners  of  the  same  material  as 
the  back.  The  purpose  of  these  corners  is  not  simply 
to  strengthen  the  boards,  but  also  to  protect  the 
cover  material  from  wear.  The  three  quarters  leather 
book,  leather  back  and  corners,  as  it  stands  on  the 
shelf  is  carried  almost  entirely  on  the  leather  of  the 
corners  and  the  back.  This  saves  the  cloth  on  the 
bottom  of  the  covers  from  wearing  out  rapidly.  This 
same  purpose  is  not  served  by  vellum  corners,  or  even 
metal  corners,  under  the  cover  paper  or  cloth.  The 
vellum  or  metal  strengthens  the  corners,  but  does 
not  protect  them  from  wearing. 


4O  BOOKBINDING   FOR    LIBRARIES 

Newspapers  bind  usually  in  half  duck,  preferably 
of  a  color  that  will  not  show  dirt,  but  light  enough 
to  take  lettering  in  black  ink.  It  may  be  wise  to 
put  on  duck  corners.  Cover  the  sides  with  inex- 
pensive book  cloth. 

Marble  paper  is  often  used  for  the  sides  of  news- 
papers and  other  books,  but  soon  wears  off  and  is 
not  to  be  recommended  on  books  much  handled. 

If  newspapers  are  to  be  consulted  often  they 
should  be  carefully  bound  of  course.  But  in  a  great 
many  libraries  it  is  wise  to  tie  most  newspapers  up  in 
flat  packages  instead  of  binding  them. 


CHAPTER  V 

Specifications 

Libraries  differ  as  to  bindings  in  their  needs  and 
in  their  possibilities.  Books  differ  even  more.  So 
it  seems  unwise  to  offer  elaborate  specifications.  No 
library  can  or  should  exactly  follow  any  one  style  in 
its  rebinding  work.  I  add,  however,  the  following 
set  of  directions  for  ordinary,  much-used  I2mo  vol- 
umes, in  the  hope  that  they  may  be  found  suggestive. 
They  should  be  read  in  the  light  of  all  the  rest  of 
this  book,  and  not  taken  as  final  authority  at  any 
point. 

I    Books  sewed  regularly,  that  is,  not  whipstitched. 

Thoroughly  clean  off  old  glue.  Mend  with  paper 
cut  with  the  grain,  or  strips  of  nainsook  or  jaconet, 
such  leaves  as  are  badly  worn.  Guard  the  first  and 
last  signatures  with  jaconet..  If  the  title-page  or 
frontispiece  is  an  insert,  paste  the  guard  along  the 
insert  and  over  the  first  signature.  This  saves  the 
labor  of  guarding  the  insert  and  first  signature  sep- 
arately. 

Make  two  sets  of  four-page  fly  leaves  by  folding 
once  pieces  of  good  quality,  70  pound,  white  book 
paper.  Guard  each  of  these  with  jaconet,  and  place 
one  at  the  front  and  one  at  the  back  of  the  book. 

41 


42  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

Make  two  sets  of  four-page  end  sheets  by  folding 
once  pieces  of  60  to  80  pound  rope  manila.  Guard 
each  of  these  with  jaconet  and  place  one  at  the 
front  and  one  at  the  back  of  the  book. 

Use  Hayes's  standard  linen  thread  of  a  weight 
adapted  to  the  book.  No.  25  is  good  for  books  with 
light  sections,  16  for  those  with  heavy  sections,  and 
20  for  those  with  medium.  Sew  the  book  on  three 
stout  but  flexible  tapes,  each  about  half  an  inch  wide. 
Unless  the  book  has  a  large  number  of  signatures 
sew  all  along  throughout.  In  taking  the  stitches  at 
the  tapes  pass  the  needle  through  their  centers.  Sew 
both  fly  leaves  and  end  sheets  all  along. 

Leave  about  three-fourths  of  an  inch  of  tape  pro- 
jecting when  cutting  it  off. 

From  here  on  the  process  is  very  similar  for  this 
kind  of  binding  and  for  No.  2,  which  follows. 

2  Books  from  which  the  backs  have  been  cut  off, 
whipstitched. 

Cut  off  as  little  of  the  backs  as  possible.  Prepare 
fly  leaves  as  above  described,  except  here  paste  the 
jaconet  guard  only  along  one  side,  the  outer,  of  the 
fold  of  each  of  them.  This  gives  firm  hold  for  first 
overcast  stitches. 

Prepare  fly  leaves  and  end  sheets  and  place  front 
and  back  as  above  described. 

Glue  the  back  of  the  book  slightly  so  that  it  may 
be  divided  into  signatures  of  a  few  leaves  each  which 
will  hold  together. 

Saw  in  the  usual  way  for  three  strings. 

Use  good  quality,  rather  loosely  woven  strings,  of 


SPECIFICATIONS  43 

proper  size  and  number  of  threads  for  the  book  in 
hand. 

Put  a  fine  line  of  paste  along  the  edge  of  each 
signature  just  before  it  is  put  in  place  for  sewing. 

Sew  end  sheets  and  fly  leaves  all  along.  In  over- 
casting or  whipstitching  do  not  take  up  more  than 
one-eighth  of  an  inch  for  the  deepest  stitches.  Make 
the  signatures  small  and  pass  the  needle  through 
three  of  them  with  each  stitch,  taking  the  stitch  diag- 
onally in  such  a  way  that  the  three  rows  of  stitches 
in  a  given  signature  will  be  each  on  a  separate  line. 

Paste  the  adjoining  pages  of  fly  leaves  and  end 
sheets  together  all  over,  front  and  back.  Trim  the 
book,  cutting  it  as  little  as  possible. 

Glue  the  back  slightly,  and,  when  it  is  partly 
dried,  round  the  book  and  then  back  it.  In  backing 
do  not  break  the  threads  or  pull  them  through  the 
paper.  This  is  especially  to  be  guarded  against  on 
overcast,  whipstitched,  books. 

After  rounding  and  backing,  glue  on  the  back 
and  over  to  the  sides,  passing  beyond  the  jaconet 
guards,  a  strip  of  medium  weight  bleached  muslin. 

Measure  and  cut  the  boards,  which  should  be  of 
good  quality,  adapted  to  the  wear  the  book  is  likely 
to  have.  Cut  off  the  outer  corners  a  very  little. 

Cut  the  leather  back,  of  brown  cow-skin.  Do  not 
pare  it  save  slightly  at  the  edges.  Put  a  little  paste 
on  the  boards  inside  to  make  them  stay  in  place,  and 
set  them  in  place  on  the  book. 

Put  on  the  leather,  leaving  the  boards  in  placet 
tucking  the  leather  in  at  top  and  bottom,  head  and  tail. 


44  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

When  the  leather  is  partly  dried,  the  book  having 
been  kept  under  slight  pressure,  cover  the  boards 
with  keratol  or  the  appropriate  cloth.  The  corner 
fold  is  made  by  first  turning  the  cover  material  in 
straight  across  the  corner  and  then  bringing  in  the 
folds  from  right  and  left. 

Paste  the  end  sheets  firmly  down  on  the  inside  of 
the  covers.  This  fastens  the  book  securely  into  its 
case. 

Letter  in  gold  with  large,  rather  heavy,  black- 
faced  (Gothic)  letters.  Reduce  the  lettering  to  as 
few  words  as  possible. 


CHAPTER   VI 

Pamphlets 

The  subject  of  the  care  of  pamphlets  in  a  library 
does  not  come  within  the  field  of  these  notes;  but  it 
may  be  proper  to  say  that  experience  and  observa- 
tion have  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  many  pam- 
phlets are  bound  and  entered  in  the  catalog  which 
are  not  worth  the  labor  they  have  entailed.  How 
those  should  be  kept  that  are  thought  worth  keeping 
I  do  not  attempt  to  say.  Often  those  kept  are  not 
worth  keeping,  and  still  oftener  those  bound  and  cat- 
alogued are  not  worth  binding.  If  they  are  bound, 
the  style  of  binding  they  should  receive,  if  they  are 
in  fact  books  in  paper  covers,  is  to  be  decided  by  the 
same  rules  as  is  the  same  question  in  regard  to  other 
books.  If  they  are  in  fact  pamphlets — a  few  pages 
with  no  cover,  and  must  stand  on  the  shelf  and  will 
be  little  used,  a  cheap  binding  may  be  made  thus: 
Fold  once  a  sheet  of  stout  paper  to  the  pamphlet's 
size;  cut  two  boards  for  covers,  a  little  narrower  than 
the  pamphlet;  paste  them  to  the  paper  mentioned 
about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  from  the  back;  paste  a 
strip  of  book  cloth  down  the  back  and  cover  to  the 
boards;  paste  the  cover  (removed  before  putting  on 
the  sheet  of  paper  mentioned)  to  the  boards,  front 
and  back;  sew  through  cloth  and  pamphlet,  about 

45 


46  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

an  eighth  of  an  inch  from  the  back,  with  stout  thread, 
using  the  binder's  stitch  through  three  or  five  holes 
as  seems  advisable,  trim.  This  is  simple,  strong  and 
inexpensive.  If  the  pamphlets  consist  of  one  signa- 
ture only  the  method  just  described  can  be  followed; 
but  the  sewing  should  be  through  the  back,  a  saddle- 
stitch,  with  the  knot  inside.  The  binder's  knot  or 
stitch  is  thus  made:  Having  three  holes  for  the 
thread,  go  first  down  through  the  center  one,  back 
through  one  of  the  end  holes,  down  again  through 
the  other  end  hole,  up  through  the  center,  and  tie  the 
two  ends  over  the  thread  which  passes  from  end  hole 
to  end  hole.  With  five  holes  the  process  is  similar 
and  easily  followed. 

I  have  had  many  single  copies  of  magazines  bound 
for  lending,  at  about  15  cents  each,  after  this  style: 
Take  off  covers;  trim;  remove  table  of  contents  if  it 
faces  the  cover;  paste  strip  of  strong  cotton  cloth 
down  the  back,  and  extending  about  an  inch  over 
the  sides;  staple  this  on  with  at  least  three  staples 
in  the  same  line  with  the  staples  which  hold  the 
magazine  together  or  sew  with  stout  thread  through 
five  holes;  cut  covers  as  for  an  ordinary  binding; 
paste  them  to  the  strip;  cover  all  over  with  art  vel- 
lum; line  covers  with  paper;  (this -lining  can  be  put 
on  all  over  as  the  first  step  in  the  process,  and  pasted 
to  the  covers  after  they  are  on,  thus  forming  the  end 
paper);  paste  the  front  cover  of  the  magazine  on 
the  front  in  such  a  way  that  the  date  line  down  the 
back  comes  on  the  back,  of  the  new  cover.  This  is 
neat,  convenient  and  quite  durable. 


PAMPHLETS  47 

Covers  of  strong  paper  attached  to  the  outside 
of  magazines  we  have  not  found  at  all  satisfactory. 
Such  covers  are  held  to  the  magazine  only  by  the 
paste  which  holds  the  original  cover,  to  which  it  is 
attached,  to  the  pamphlet.  They  curl,  they  soil 
easily,  they  soon  come  off.  "Well  done  or  not  at  all" 
is  a  good  rule  here  as  in  bookbinding. 

A  very  neat  pamphlet  binding,  for  pamphlets  too 
large  to  be  saddle-stitched,  is  the  following: 

Cut  two  pieces  of  smooth,  hard,  '"flat"  paper  the 
size  of  the  pamphlet;  along  one  edge  of  each  paste 
a  strip  of  thin  cotton  cloth,  bleached  muslin,  about 
half  an  inch  wide;  lay  one  piece  each  side  of  the 
pamphlet,  cloth  strips  at  the  back,  and  sew  the 
pamphlet  through  these  strips,  close  to  the  back, 
with  three  holes  or  five  as  seems  advisable.  Make 
two  end-sheets  of  two  leaves  each,  the  size  of  the 
pamphlet;  guard  each  with  muslin;  paste  these  to 
the  first  sheets,  all  over,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
pamphlet;  cut  boards  and  paste  them  down  on  the 
outer  halves  of  the  end-sheets,  (each  end-sheet  has 
now  become,  one-half  the  lining  paper  for  the  cover, 
the  other  half,  half  of  a  double  fly  leaf);  put  on  a 
back  of  art  vellum,  leather  or  other  material;  paste 
on  the  pamphlet's  cover;  trim,  'fhis  binding  is  very 
strong,  very  neat,  opens  quite  easily  and  will  wear 
well.  The  boards  can  be  covered  all  over  with  cloth, 
and  the  binding  will  then  wear  much  longer. 

Covers  for  magazines  in  a  reading  room  are  of  end- 
less variety,  and  none  is  perfect.  I  do  not  approve 
of  any  which  necessitates  making  holes  through  the 


48  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

back  of  magazine  or  journal.  If  such  must  be  used, 
the  best  is  that  with  flexible  metal  strips,  which  pass 
through  holes.  The  type  is  familiar;  variations  on  it 
are  endless. 

Mr.  Stetson  of  the  New  Haven  Library  has  im- 
proved on  those  devices,  which  consist  mainly  of  a  rod 
of  metal  passing  down  along  the  back  of  the  maga- 
zine and  anchored  at  each  end.  His  device  is  difficult 
to  describe.  He  has  no  patent  on  it  and  offers  it  to 
librarians  at  cost,  with  or  without  accompanying 
covers. 

Ballard's  clips  find  favor  with  many  librarians,  for 
both  pamphlets  and  magazines.  They  hold  things 
together  neatly  and  securely,  and  hold  magazines 
into  covers  of  cloth  or  leather  quite  effectively.  They 
are  strips  of  sheet  steel,  of  several  widths,  bent  into 
about  three-fourths  of  a  circle.  Small  steel  levers  fit 
into  cleverly  adjusted  holes  and  make  opening  easy. 


CHAPTER  VII 
The  Literary  Side 

After  satisfactory  materials  and  methods  of  bind- 
ing for  a  library  have  been  discovered  and  adopted, 
there  still  remain  many  questions  which  can  be  well 
ans'wered  only  by  one  having  a  wide  knowledge  of 
books.  Nor  is  a  general  knowledge  of  books  alone 
enough  to  qualify  one  to  answer  wisely  these  ques- 
tions. Close  acquaintance  with  the  library's  policy 
in  regard  to  book-saving  and  book-buying  and  of  its 
attitude  toward  the  demand  for  popular  and  ephem- 
eral fiction;  knowledge  of  its  reference  work;  of  the 
amount  of  handling  its  books  receive  by  the  public, 
and  of  its  financial  condition  and  policy — all  this 
and  much  besides  the  person  in  charge  of  binding 
should  have  before  she  can  make  wise  decisions. 
And  particularly  she  needs  knowledge  of  paper,  edi- 
tions, prices  and  similar  matters. 

Take  fiction  for  example.  More  than  half  of  the 
binding  bills  of  most  free  public  libraries  are  prob- 
ably chargeable  to  novels.  One  of  these  comes  to 
the  hands  of  the  person  in  charge  of  binding  in  such 
condition  that  at  the  first  glance  it  seems  desirable 
to  rebind  it.  Let  us  suppose  that  it  is  still  in  pub- 
lisher's cloth;  is  quite  soiled  outside,  but  still  fairly 
clean  within;  that  the  cover  has  parted  from  the  book 

49 


5O  BOOKBINDING   FOR   LIBRARIES 

in  front;  that  several  leaves  are  loose  and  two  of 
them  frayed  at  the  edges;  that  at  the  back  the  out- 
side sheets  of  several  signatures  are  nearly  worn 
through  or  broken;  and  that  the  label  is  off.  Should 
it  be  rebound;  or  what  should  be  done  with  it?  Be- 
fore deciding  its  fate,  questions  like  the  following 
must  be  answered: 

If  this  is  not  the  only  copy  of  this  book  now  in 
the  library,  are  the  other  copies  in  good  condition? 

If  they  are,  can  the  library  spare  this  copy  because 
the  demand  for  this  particular  title  is  past?  And  is 
it  not  better  economy  to  throw  it  away  or  sell  it — 
as  it  will  probably  never  be  wanted  again — than  to 
spend  money  in  binding  it? 

That  is  to  say,  if  it  is  bound,  will  it  not  stand  idle 
on  the  shelf? 

If  it  continues  to  be  somewhat  popular,  and  this 
copy  would  get  some  use  if  it  were  replaced,  still,  is 
it  a  book  the  use  of  which  it  is  the  library's  policy  to 
encourage? 

If  not,  has  it  not  served  its  purpose  and  should  it 
not  be  put  away,  rather  than  entail  on  the  library 
another  expense  item  in  cost  of  binding? 

If  it  is  the  only  copy  in  the  library,  is  it  a  book 
the  library  wishes  to  retain  or  has  it  been  in  effect 
on  trial,  and  has  proved  not  to  be  worth  keeping? 

If  so,  would  not  the  binding  of  it  be  a  use  of 
money  far  less  justifiable  than  its  original  purchase? 

Or  is  it  perhaps  of  interest  now  simply  as  a  part 
of  the  history  of  fiction  and  so  still  worth  keeping? 

But,  if  kept  for  this  purpose,  does  it  need  binding 


THE    LITERARY   SIDE  5! 

at  all?  Will  not  a  little  mending  make  it  hold  together 
sufficiently  well?  Perhaps  the  best  plan  would  be  to 
reclassify  it  for  the  literature  section,  wrap  it  in  pa- 
per, mark  the  wrapper,  and  put  on  the  shelf. 

If  it  is  a  good  book,  in  constant  demand,  the 
question  is  still  not  a  simple  one.  Is  it  on  poor  pa- 
per, so  poor  that  in  our  style  of  rebinding  it  will  last 
but  a  short  time?  If  so,  would  not  a  new  copy  be 
a  better  investment  than  the  rebinding  of  this  one? 

If  the  paper  is  good  enough  for  rebinding,  will  it 
stand  mending  and  further  wear  without  making  its 
ultimate  binding  very  difficult? 

If  there  are  other  editions  of  this  book  obtain- 
able, does  this  sample  indicate  that  this  particular 
edition  is  the  best  one  to  buy  hereafter? 

These  and  many  other  questions  confront  the  li- 
brarian every  time  a  book,  of  any  kind,  comes  up  for 
binding.  Because  they  are  not  wisely  answered  the 
shelves  of  every  library  show  examples  of  the  unwise 
expenditure  of  money.  To  take  a  specific  example 
in  this  same  field  of  fiction.  The  library  has  several 
sets  of  Cooper.  In  each  of  them  is  the  Chainbearer. 
Consider  any  one  of  the  library's  copies  of  this  book: 
No  one  reads  it.  But  mere  shifting  on  the  shelf 
gradually  wears  it  out.  It  goes  through  the  bindery, 
and,  being  by  Cooper,  and  a  novel,  it  is  bound,  in 
the  same  style  as  the  Spy  which  happens  to  go 
with  it,  in  half  leather.  The  Spy  is  used;  the 
leather  on  it  keeps  soft  and  pliable  and  wears  a  year 
or  two,  until  the  book  is  too  dirty  to  keep  it  longer. 
But  the  Chainbearer  stands  untouched  and  its  leather 


52  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

hardens  and  breaks.  It  must  be  bound  again  within 
three  or  four  years,  even  though  it  has  not  been 
lent  once  in  that  period.  If  it  had  received  a  plain 
cloth  binding,  that  binding  would  have  cost  less  and 
lasted  indefinitely.  If  it  had  been  thrown  away  the 
library  would  have  been  the  gainer. 

The  problem  is  not  less  complex  when  books  in 
classes  other  than  fiction  are  up  for  consideration. 
Many  of  them  are  rarely  used;  why  rebind  them  at 
all,  no  matter  how  broken?  To  tie  a  string  about 
them  or  to  wrap  in  paper  and  mark  them  would  often 
be  wiser  economy.  Often  they  are  single  volumes 
from  long  sets,  an  edition,  for  example,  of  some 
history  bound  about  i8oo.  The  binding  is  calf.  In 
rebinding,  to  match  the  set  is  very  unwise,  for  all 
calf  now  on  the  market  will  rot  in  a  few  years.  It 
must  be  bound,  let  us  suppose,  as  it  is  occasionally 
called  for;  yet  it  will  not,  like  a  popular  novel,  wear 
out  or  become  unbearably  dirty  in  a  half  century. 

Shall  it  be  put  in  morocco?  This  would  be  a 
mistake,  for  it  is  doubtful  if  present-day  morocco  will 
last  50  years,  probably  not  half  that  time.  The  only 
alternative  is  cloth,  and  that  with  no  leather  title 
label  on  the  back.  One  of  the  best  things  is,  for  a 
large  book,  heavy  duck  back,  light  gray  or  light 
green,  lettered  in  printers'  ink,  with  sides  of  any  good 
book  cloth.  This  spoils  the  looks  of  the  set.  More- 
ever,  the  cloth  catches  dust  and  dirt,  and  grows  soft 
and  flabby.  But  it  is  today  one  of  the  few  safe 
bindings.  If  the  book  is  small,  full  art  vellum  or 
imperial  morocco  cloth  is  better. 


THE    LITERARY    SIDE  53 

So,  as  I  have  said,  paper,  leather,  cloth,  sewing, 
joints,  gold,  and  many  other  things  the  librarian  must 
know;  and  to  these  must  add  knowledge  of  literary 
values,  popularity  of  books  and  authors,  editions, 
prices  and  a  score  of  other  things  before  he  can  be 
sure,  if  he  ever  can  be  sure,  that  he  is  really  binding 
economically,  in  the  long  run. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Paper  Making:  A  Brief  Outline 

Much  of  the  paper  used  in  books  today  is  made 
of  wood.  Wood  is  converted  into  paper-making 
material  in  three  ways.  In  one,  it  is  cut  into  conven- 
ient lengths,  stripped  of  its  bark  and  finely  ground 
on  grindstones,  and  bleached.  The  product  is  called 
ground  wood  pulp.  The  paper  made  from  this  pulp 
is  hastily  and  cheaply  put  together,  has  little  strength, 
and  soon  turns  yellow  and  grows  brittle.  There  is 
often  added  to  ground  wood  before  making  it  into 
paper,  more  or  less  sulphite  or  soda  pulp,  usually 
the  latter,  the  product  of  another  process  of  turning 
wood  into  paper-making  material. 

In  the  sulphite  and  soda  processes  the  wood  is 
freed  of  bark,  cut  into  small  pieces,  and  reduced  to 
a  pulp  by  being  heated  with  water  and  chemicals 
under  pressure  in  an  air-tight  steel  tank  or  boiler. 
Sulphite  and  soda  pulp,  which  get  their  names  from 
chemicals  used  in  reducing  the  wood  to  pulp,  have 
longer  and  better  fibre  than  ground  wood  pulp.  In 
both  processes  certain  means  are  used  to  whiten  the 
fibre  and  free  it  from  sap,  gum,  and  other  things 
which  would  prevent  it  from  acting  properly  in  the 
paper-making  machine,  or  would  tend  to  make  it 

54 


PAPER  MAKING  $5 

grow  yellow  or  spotted.  Spruce  or  basswood  are 
the  woods  chiefly  used,  and  they  seem  to  submit 
themselves  to  treatment  better  and  to  give  a  longer 
fibre  than  other  kinds.  The  pulp  made  from  rags  is 
often  mixed  with  sulphite  and  soda  pulp.  The  rag- 
pulp  fibre  improves  the  quality  of  the  resulting  paper 
for  reasons  not  easily  set  forth.  Paper  made  entirely 
of  wood  may  be  of  a  good  quality,  especially  sulphite 
papers.  The  popular  outcry  against  wood  paper  is 
based  on  the  fact  that  much  of  it  is  made  very 
cheaply  and  poorly. 

The  rags  used  in  paper  making  are  nearly  all  cot- 
ton. They  are  not  all  of  them  rags  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  the  term.  Many  of  them  are  cuttings  from 
clothing  factories,  and  have  never  been  used.  New 
rags  do  not  act  the  same  way  under  the  treatment 
which  changes  them  to  paper  pulp  as  do  the  old 
ones.  The  paper  made  entirely  from  new  cloth  dif- 
fers somewhat  from  that  made  from  old  rags.  The 
best  book  papers,  however,  contain  only  stock  pre- 
pared from  old  rags. 

The  process  of  changing  rags  into  paper  is  very 
similar  to  that  of  changing  wood  into  paper.  The 
rags  are  cleaned,  freed  from  foreign  substances,  cut 
into  small  pieces,  thoroughly  washed,  bleached,  and 
then  beaten  to  a  pulp,  under  water,  by  machines 
which  convert  them  into  a  soft,  homogeneous,  creamy 
mass,  called  technically  stuff,  and  yet  preserve  the 
greatest  possible  length  of  fibre.  This  process  of 
beating  rags  into  good  paper-making  material  re- 
quires care  and  considerable  time.  If  the  process  is 


56  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

hastened  unduly  the  resulting  material  is  not  so  good. 

Paper  is  made  from  other  materials  besides  wood 
and  cotton;  but  nearly  all  of  that  used  in  books  in 
this  country  is  made  of  one  or  other  of  these  two 
materials,  or  of  a  combination  of  the  two. 

The  stuff  produced  as  described,  almost  milk-like 
in  its  consistency,  is  pumped  from  a  tank,  in  which 
it  is  kept  constantly  stirred  to  prevent  the  fibre  from 
settling,  onto  the  paper-making  machine.  This  ma- 
chine is  an  evolution  from  a  simple  hand  appliance 
which  was  used  by  paper  makers  for  several  centuries. 
It  was  a  shallow  tray  with  a  bottom  made  of  a  net- 
work of  wires.  This  was  held  in  the  hands,  dipped 
into  a  vat  containing  the  paper-making  material,  and 
as  much  of  the  latter  taken  up  on  the  wires  as  in  the 
judgment  of  the  maker  was  sufficient  for  a  sheet  of 
paper.  It  was  then  shaken  gently,  and  deftly  handled, 
until  the  water,  running  through  the  wires,  left  on 
the  latter,  and  spread  evenly  over  them,  a  layer  of 
fibres.  These  dried  and  matted  together  in  a  few 
seconds  sufficiently  to  enable  the  maker  to  turn  them 
out  on  a  blanket;  on  this  another  blanket  was  spread, 
and  on  this  was  laid  another  layer  of  fibres.  The 
skillful  maker  of  paper  by  hand  (in  a  few  places  in 
this  country  the  craft  is  still  practiced)  can  secure 
considerable  evenness  in  the  layers  of  fibre  or  pulp 
on  the  wire  of  his  frame;  but  the  layer  is  never  of 
quite  the  same  thickness  throughout.  Handmade 
paper  can  sometimes  be  distinguished  by  these  varia- 
tions in  its  thickness.  Machine-made  paper  is  of 
nearly  uniform  thickness.  In  the  process  of  taking 


PAPER    MAKING  57 

up  from  the  vat  by  hand  a  thin  layer  of  stuff,  the 
maker  wove  together  the  fibres  in  every  direction  by 
skillful  and  delicate  movements  of  the  frame.  A 
paper-making  machine  cannot  so  thoroughly  inter- 
weave the  fibres.  Paper  made  by  hand,  therefore, 
has  a  quality  which  cannot  be  secured  on  a  machine. 
This  peculiar  texture  of  handmade  paper  of  the  first 
class  delights  the  connoisseur,  and  furnishes  a  print- 
ing surface  superior,  in  some  respects,  to  any  ma- 
chine-made paper. 

The  paper-making  machine  consists  primarily  of 
an  endless  roll  of  wire  screen,  similar  to  that  forming 
the  bottom  of  the  shallow  tray  used  in  making  paper 
by  hand.  This  wire  screen,  stretched  around  rollers, 
travels  almost  horizontally  away  from  a  broad  shelf 
from  which  it  receives  a  stream  of  stuff  pumped  onto 
the  latter  from  the  tank  before  mentioned.  As  the 
pulp  pours  out  onto  this  wire  it  settles  over  the 
screen,  and  is  woven,  together  by  the  latter's  oscil- 
lating and  forward  movement,  and  by  the  time  it 
reaches  the  end  of  the  screen  is  sufficiently  matted 
and  dry  to  hold  its  shape,  the  water  being  removed 
by  suction.  It  is  then  picked  up  by  a  roller,  and  goes 
through  a  succession  of  rolls,  varying  in  size,  number, 
character,  heat  and  pressure,  according  to  the  quality 
of  the  paper  being  made  and  the  surface  desired 
thereon.  In  some  cases,  toward  the  close  of  the 
process,  it  is  passed  through  a  tank  containing  a  thin 
mixture  of  glue  and  water,  called  size,  and  then  is 
again  dried.  Coming  out  as  paper  at  the  end  it  is 
cut  into  lengths  and  piled,  or  gathered  on  a  roll. 


58  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

The  wire  diaphragm  onto  which  the  paper  pulp 
first  pours,  and  during  the  passage  over  which  it  is 
worked  into  a  mat,  the  water  meanwhile  being  ex- 
tracted from  it,  is  of  varying  styles.  If  perfectly 
plain  the  resulting  paper  is  almost  without  marks, 
and  is  said  to  be  wove.  If  made  of  wires  of  differ- 
ent sizes  properly  arranged  the  paper,  as  it  lies  on 
it,  receives  deeper  impressions  from  the  larger  wires 
than  from  the  smaller  and  the  former  appear  as 
light  lines  running  through  it  when  finished.  Paper 
thus  marked  is  called  laid,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
wove.  As  the  paper  comes  from  the  wires  it  passes 
under  the  dandy  roll.  This  roll  sometimes  has  fig- 
ures or  letters  raised  on  its  surface.  These  impress 
themselves  on  the  soft  paper  and  produce  a  greater 
transparency  where  they  touch,  sometimes  reducing 
the  thickness,  and  give  the  finished  paper  what  is 
called  a  watermark.  It  is  so  called  not  because  it  is 
made  of  water  or  by  water,  bu£  because  it  looks  as 
though  it  were  drawn  on  the  paper  with  a  point  dipped 
in  water.  • 

Endless  varieties  of  paper  can  be  made  from  the 
same  materials.  It  may  contain  more  or  less  rag; 
may  be  beaten  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  and  with 
more  or  less  care;  may  be  spread  thicker  or  thinner; 
may  be  rolled  on  hot  rolls,  or  polished,  more  or  less; 
may  receive  more  or  less  sizing;  may  be  dyed  in  a 
vat  before  it  starts  for  the  machine,  or  dipped  in  dye 
after  it  is  made,  or  color  may  be  applied  to  one  sur- 
face by  machine.  The  fibre  may  be  carelessby  pro- 
duced, and  the  chemicals  used  in  bleaching  and 


PAPER    MAKING  59 

cleaning  it  may  be  only  partially  neutralized,  with 
the  result  that  the  paper  will  soon  act  as  if  being 
eaten  with  acid,  and  will  rapidly  turn  yellow  under 
a  bright  light. 

The  ordinary  observer  can  distinguish  between 
very  poor  and  fairly  good  paper  in  books.  He  can- 
not distinguish  between  paper  of  fairly  good  quality 
and  the  best. 

The  paper  used  in  newspapers  is  nearly  all  made 
entirely  of  ground  wood.  Most  of  it  is  made  as 
cheaply  as  possible,  and  soon  grows  brittle  and  dark 
in  color.  This  is  of  little  consequence  in  most  cases. 
For  the  ordinary  newspaper  the  paper  has  served  its 
purpose  if  it  looks  well  for  twenty-four  hours  after  it 
is  printed  and  exposed  to  the  light. 

Books  are  generally  printed  on  paper  which  has 
not  been  very  highly  polished.  Ink  is  taken  from 
the  type  more  readily  by  paper  of  this  kind,  espe- 
cially if  the  latter  be  rather  soft  in  texture,  so  that 
the  press  drives  into  it  the  face  of  the  type  bearing 
the  ink.  Modern  processes  of  reproducing  pictures 
give  plates  for  printing,  many  of  which  are  made  up 
of  very  fine  lines  placed  very  closely  together  and 
having  very  shallow  depressions  between  them.  To 
print  from  these  with  good  results  the  paper  used 
must  have  a  very  smooth,  highly  polished  surface. 
The  press  drives  soft  paper  down  into  the  narrow 
places  between  the  fine  lines  and  blurs  the  impres- 
sion of  the  cut.  Newspapers  which  use  process- 
cuts  of  the  kind  mentioned  are  obliged  to  use  paper 
with  a  smooth  surface  to  get  good  results.  This 


6O  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

smooth  surface  is  generally  produced,  as  already 
noted,  by  passing  the  paper  between  hot  metal 
rollers,  a  process  called  calendering.  In  a  more  ex- 
pensive process,  called  plating,  the  paper,  cut  into 
sheets,  is  laid  between  sheets  of  zinc  until  a  pile  of 
several  inches  in  thickness  is  formed,  and  this  pile  is 
passed  several  times  under  rollers  exerting  a  heavy 
pressure.  This  smooths,  polishes,  and  hardens  the 
paper.  Much  of  the  paper  used  for  illustrations  in 
books  has  a  surface  made  by  applying  a  coating  of 
clay  or  other  material  to  it  and  then  polishing  it. 
Quite  good  results  can  be  obtained  with  fine  line 
cuts  on  calendered  or  plated  paper  without  the  ad- 
dition of  a  coating  of  clay.  The  illustrations  on 
coated  paper  which  are  found  in  books  are  very 
commonly  printed  separately  from  the  book  itself, 
which  is  on  ordinary  uncoated  paper,  and  inserted 
separately.  Generally  these  inserts  are  not  care- 
fully fastened  in  and  cause  much  annoyance  by  fall- 
ing out  after  the  book  has  been  subjected  to  a 
little  use. 

Recently  paper  makers  have  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing a  paper  which  has  a  smooth  surface  without 
the  high  polish  usually  found  on  that  which  is 
coated,  or  highly  calendered.  The  polished  surface 
of  these  papers,  especially  of  the  coated,  is  very  ob- 
jectionable to  readers,  light  being  reflected  from  it  in 
an  unpleasant  way. 

It  will  be  seen  from  what  has  been  said  that  it  is 
difficult  so  to  describe  what  we  may  call  good  book 
paper  that  it  can  be  readily  distinguished.  Con- 


MAKING  6t 

stant  study  and  careful  comparisons  of  the  papers 
one  meets  in  books  will  enable  one  to  judge  of 
them  with  some  success.  One  who  has  much  to  do 
with  books  should  take  note  of  the  paper  of  which 
they  are  made,  and  learn  to  distinguish  between 
poor  and  good,  and  the  good  and  the  best,  as  far  as 
possible.  This  is  especially  desirable  for  one  whose 
work  with  books  includes  their  rebinding  and  repair- 
ing. Coated  paper  breaks  easily,  the  stiffening 
added  to  it  by  the  coat  of  clay  giving  it  a  tendency 
to  fall  apart  as  soon  as  it  has  been  folded  in  the 
same  place  a  few  times.  Soft  and  fragile  paper, 
such  as  is  found  in  many  books,  will  stand  very  little 
wear  at  the  joint  in  the  back.  Paper  not  carefully 
bleached  and  freed  from  the  chemicals  used  in 
bleaching,  rapidly  discolors  at  the  edges  where  ex- 
posed to  light.  Such  facts  as  these,  and  many 
others,  will  be  found  useful  when  one  comes  to  have 
books  rebound,  or  attempts  to  repair  them. 

That  side  of  the  paper  which  touched  the  wires  on 
which  it  is  made  is  different  from  the  other.  This 
difference  is  usually  visible  to  the  trained  eye.  It  is 
often  taken  into  consideration  in  fine  printing. 

As  the  pulp  flows  out  upon  the  wires  it  tends  to 
mat  together  more  thoroughly  along  the  line  of  flow 
than  across  it.  This  gives  paper  a  grain,  along  which 
it  tears  and  folds  more  readily  than  across  it.  This 
fact  also  is  often  taken  advantage  of  in  good  printing. 

All  paper  expands  or  stretches  when  wet.  This 
is  to  be  kept  in  mind  in  mending  books.  An  added 
strip,  pasted  on,  usually  draws  and  wrinkles,  when  it 


62  BOOKBINDING   FOR    LIBRARIES 

dries,  the  paper  to  which  it  is  applied.  Hence  the 
rule,  in  mending,  to  use  thick  paste  and  apply  the 
pasted  sheet  or  strip  to  its  place  as  quickly  after  past- 
ing as  possible. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Leather:  General  Notes 

The  names  given  to  different  kinds  of  leather 
come  sometimes  from  the  character  of  its  surface, 
that  is,  from  the  "grain,"  or  roughness  or  corrugation 
it  has;  sometimes  from  the  animal  it  once  covered; 
sometimes  from  the  method  of  tanning;  sometimes 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  part  of  a  skin  which  has  been 
split;  sometimes  from  the  place  or  country  where  it 
is  made  or  where  the  animal  it  once  covered  lived, 
and  sometimes  from  a  combination  of  two  or  more 
of  these. 

The  subject  of  the  leathers  used  in  bookbinding 
is  a  very  difficult  one.  Tanners,  dealers,  and  binders, 
dictionaries,  encyclopaedias,  and  books  on  tanning 
disagree  with  one  another  as  to  the  proper  terms  to 
use  in  speaking  of  leather  of  different  kinds.  Imita- 
tions are  many,  and  very  successful.  In  the  list 
below  I  have  tried  to  follow  the  usage  of  binders; 
but  I  am  sure  no  expert  would  accept  it  throughout 
as  correct. 

With  this  variety  in  definition  goes  a  correspond- 
ing variety  in  character  in  leather  of  the  same  name. 
Different  skins  tanned  in  the  same  way,  apparently, 
and  called  by  the  same  name  by  dealers  and  binders, 
will  wear,  some  well,  some  not  so  well.  The  only 

63 


64  BOOKBINDING  FOR  LIBRARIES 

quite  definite  assertion  which  can  be  made  is,  that 
of  modern  leathers,  few  save  the  best  morocco  will 
keep  its  strength  for  any  length  of  time  in  an  Amer- 
ican library,  and  that  usually  not  much  over  20  years. 

As  the  remarks  which  follow  indicate,  English 
leather  makers  have  recently  procured  leathers  guar- 
anteed to  be  dressed  on  the  lines  recommended  by 
the  Society  of  Arts  Report.  See  also  the  revised 
report,  and  the  little  volume,  with  samples,  called 
Leather  for  Libraries  by  Hulme,  Parker  and  others. 

Leathers  made  from  the  skins  of  animals  of  the 
same  kind,  the  goat  for  example,  though  made  by 
the  same  process,  vary  somewhat  with  the  animals' 
sex,  age  when  killed,  the  food  on  which  they  lived, 
the  climate  in  which  they  matured,  and  their  manner 
of  life,  and  if  females,  with  the  fact  that  they  have  or 
have  not  had  young.  Also,  the  leather  made  from 
the  skin  of  one  part  of  the  body  differs  materially 
from  that  made  from  the  skin  of  another  part. 

Moreover,  some  dyes  seem  to  hasten  decay,  some 
to  retard  it.  Red  seems  least  hurtful,  black  the  most 
so;  though  this  difference  is  probably  due  more  to 
chemicals  used  in  the  preparation  of  the  skin  for  the 
dye  than  to  the  dye  itself.  Brown  generally  stands 
well;  most  other  colors,  except  red  as  stated,  do  not. 

With  all  these,  and  other,  factors  to  be  taken 
into  consideration  it  is  evident  that  full  knowledge 
of  leather  is  not  given  to  anyone.  In  a  general  way 
it  may  be  said  that  good  leather  cannot  be  told  by 
name,  or  looks,  or  feel;  but  only  by  trial.  Dealers, 
even,  cannot  tell  the  good  from  the  best. 


LEATHER  65 

The  sum  of  all  advice  is,  having  found,  by  your 
own  or  others'  tests,  that  a  certain  leather  is  good, 
use  it  as  long  as  you  can  get  it.  The  British  museum 
sets  a  good  example  in  this.  It  has  in  recent  years 
bound  many  thousands  of  volumes  in  morocco  made 
by  Meredith-Jones  &  Sons,  Wrexham,  Wales,  which 
experience  thus  far  shows  to  be  very  good.  We 
have  tried  it  and  in  the  brief  trial  we  have  given  it, 
found  it  excellent. 

Dr.  J.  Gordon  Parker,  Herold's  Institute,  Drum- 
mond  Road,  Bermondsey,  England,  has  made  an  ar- 
rangement with  the  council  of  the  Library  Associa- 
tion of  England  by  which  he  has  become  their  official 
examiner  of  leather  and  he  will  test  samples  for  acids, 
nature  of  tannage,  etc.,  at  reasonable  rates. 

John  Muir  &  Son,  tanners  and  curriers,  Beith, 
Scotland,  offices:  3  Arundel  st,  Strand,  London, 
W.  C.,  England,  prepare  pigskin  for  bookbinding.  It 
costs  in  small  lots  without  duty  about  25  cents  per 
square  foot. 

J.  Meredith-Jones  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  Cambrian  Leather 
Works,  Wrexham,  Wales,  make  bookbinders'  leath- 
ers guaranteed  to  be  dressed  on  the  lines  recom- 
mended by  the  Society  of  Arts  Report,  and  free  from 
mineral  acids.  Specialty:  Welsh  sheep. 

Much  has  been  written  on  the  wearing  and  lasting 
qualities  of  leather.  The  best  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject is  the  Report  of  the  committee  on  leather  for 
bookbinding,  made  to  the  Society  of  Arts,  England, 
and  published  in  its  Journal,  July  5,  1901.  I  allude 
to  this  report  frequently,  and  for  convenience  speak 


66  BOOKBINDING   FOR    LIBRARIES 

of  it  as  "Report  '01."  The  committee  who  made 
this  report  found  that  the  leather  made  today  does 
not  last  as  long  as  that  made  75  years  ago.  They 
found  that  the  heat  and  fumes  of  gas  help  to  hasten 
the  decay  of  the  leather  on  books.  These  factors  are 
more  effective  in  American  superheated  libraries 
than  in  English  ones.  If  books  bound  in  leather  are 
much  handled  they  last  longer  than  if  they  stand 
undisturbed  on  the  shelves,  because  the  oil  from  the 
hand  helps  to  keep  leather  soft,  pliable,  and  alive. 
The  committee  concluded  that  no  leather,  with  the 
sole  exception  of  Niger  goat,  made  by  the  natives  on 
the  river  Niger  in  Africa,  and  imported  just  as  it 
leaves  their  hands,  can  be  fully  recommended  as  free 
from  elements  which  lead  to  its  early  decay.  Since 
this  report  was  published  imitations  of  this  leather 
have  been  put  on  the  market,  and  it  can  no  longer 
be  relied  upon.  We  have  found  it  beautiful  in  color 
and  texture,  easy  to  work  and  wearing  admirably  on 
large  and  much-used  books.  But  it  does  not  keep 
clean  as  well  as  a  good  morocco  of  coarse  grain.  It 
is  very  expensive,  and  first-class  morocco  is  probably 
better  where  strong,  enduring  leather  is  advisable, 
which  is  only  on  books  which  are  to  be  much  used. 

The  most  important  points  made  in  the  report  of 
the  Society  of  Arts  committee  on  leather  for  book- 
binding, referred  to  above  are  the  following: 

Books  bound  during  the  last  80  or  100  years  show 
far  greater  evidence  of  deterioration  than  those  of 
an  earlier  date.  Many  recent  bindings  show  evi- 
dence of  decay  after  so  short  a  period  as  10,  or  even 


LEATHER  6/ 

five,  years.     Modern  leather  is  certainly  far  less  dur- 
able than  old  leather. 

The  most  prevalent  decay  is  a  red  decay,  and 
this  may  be  differentiated  into  old  and  new,  the  old 
red  decay  being  noticeable  up  to  about  1830,  and  the 
new  decay  since  that  date. 

Another  form  of  deterioration,  more  noticeable  in 
the  newer  books,  renders  the  grain  of  the  leather 
liable  to  peel  off  when  exposed  to  the  slightest  fric- 
tion. This  is  the  most  common  form  of  decay  noted 
in  the  most  recent  leathers. 

Decay  is  caused  by  both  mechanical  and  chemical 
influences.  Of  the  latter  some  are  due  to  mistakes 
of  the  leather  manufacturer  and  the  bookbinder, 
others  to  the  want  of  ventilation,  and  improper  heat- 
ing and  lighting  of  libraries.  In  some  cases  inferior 
leathers  are  finished  (by  methods  in  themselves  in- 
jurious) to  imitate  a  better  class  of  leathers,  and  of 
course  where  these  are  used  durability  cannot  be 
expected.  But  in  the  main  the  injury  for  which  the 
manufacturer  and  bookbinder  are  responsible  must 
be  attributed  rather  to  ignorance  of  the  effect  of  the 
means  employed  to  give  the  leather  the  outward 
qualities  required  for  binding,  than  to  the  intentional 
production  of  an  inferior  article. 

Embossing  leather  under  heavy  pressure  to  imi- 
tate a  grain  has  a  very  injurious  effect. 

The  shaving  of  thick  skins  greatly  reduces  the 
strength  of  the  leather  by  cutting  away  the  tough 
fibers  of  the  inner  part  of  the  skin. 

The  use  of  mineral  acids  in  brightening  the  color 


68  BOOKBINDING   FOR   LIBRARIES 

of  leather,  and  in  the  process  of  dyeing,  has  a  serious 
effect  in  lessening  its  resistance  to  decay. 

Quite  modern  leather  dyed  black  seems,  in  nearly 
all  cases,  to  have  perished,  although  old  black  mo- 
rocco (sixteenth,  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centu- 
ries) in  good  condition  is  not  uncommon. 

In  a  very  large  proportion  of  cases  the  decay  of 
modern  sumac-tanned  leather  has  been  due  to  the 
sulphuric  acid  used  in  the  dye  bath,  and  retained  in 
the  skin. 

Tobacco  smoke  has  a  darkening  and  deleterious 
effect  on  leather  bindings. 

Light,  and  especially  direct  sunlight  and  hot  air, 
possess  deleterious  influences  which  had  scarcely 
been  suspected. 

Gas  fumes  are  the  most  injurious  of  all  the  influ- 
ences to  which  books  are  subjected,  no  doubt  because 
of  sulphuric  and  sulphurous  acid  they  contain.  They 
are  especially  injurious  to  books  on  the  upper  shelves 
of  a  high  room. 

The  importance  of  moderate  temperature  and 
thorough  ventilation  of  libraries  cannot  be  too  much 
insisted  on.  With  proper  conditions  of  ventilation, 
temperature,  and  dryness,  books  may  be  preserved 
without  deterioration,  for  very  long  periods,  on  open 
shelves. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  a  general  rule,  tightly  fit- 
ting glass  cases  conduce  to  their  preservation. 

Leather  bindings  that  have  been  coated  with  glair 
or  varnish  seem  to  keep  better  than  those  without. 

The  bookbinder  shares,  in  no  small  measure,  with 


LEATHER  69 

the  leather  manufacturer  and  librarian,  the  blame  for 
the  premature  decay  of  leather  bindings. 

Books  are  sewn  on  too  few  and  too  thin  cords, 
and  are  not  firmly  laced  into  the  boards.  This  ren- 
ders the  attachment  of  the  boards  to  the  book  almost 
entirely  dependent  on  the  strength  of  the  leather. 

The  use  of  hollow  backs  usually  throws  too  much 
strain  on  the  joints  in  opening  and  shutting  the  book. 

If  the  headbands  are  not  strong  the  leather  of 
the  back  is  apt  to  become  torn. 

The  leather  is  often  made  very  wet  and  stretched 
a  great  deal  in  covering,  with  the  result  that,  on 
drying,  it  is  further  strained,  almost  to  breaking 
point,  by  contraction,  leaving  a  very  small  margin 
of  strength  to  meet  the  accidents  of  use. 

The  use  of  oxalic  acid  for  washing  backs  of  books, 
or  of  leather  for  bookbinding,  is  fatal  to  their  dura- 
bility. Vinegar,  even  in  its  pure  state,  is  injurious. 

Paste  should  be  used  in  a  fresh  condition,  other- 
wise it  is  liable  to  undergo  an  acid  fermentation,  and 
to  favor  the  growth  of  injurious  moulds  and  bac- 
teria. 

In  all  contracts  and  specifications  for  bookbind- 
ing, the  use  of  East  India-tanned  goat  and  sheep, 
whether  retanned  or  not,  should  be  absolutely  for- 
bidden. 

It  appears  to  be  the  general  opinion  that  leather, 
and  especially  Russia  leather,  lasts  better  on  books 
that  are  in  constant  use.  This  is  attributed  to  the 
slight  amount  of  grease  absorbed  by  the  leather 
from  the  hand,  and  it  is  suggested  that  possibly  a 


7O  BOOKBINDING   FOR   LIBRARIES 

suitable  dressing  may  be  discovered  which  would 
have  a  similar  effect  to  that  produced  by  this 
grease. 

While  the  leather  now  used  for  binding  books  is 
less  durable  than  that  employed  50  years  and  more 
ago,  there  ought  to  be  no  difficulty  in  providing 
leather  at  the  present  time  as  good  as  any  previ- 
ously made. 

It  is  possible  to  test  any  leather  in  such  a  way  as 
to  guarantee  its  suitability  for  bookbinding. 

A  reissue  of  the  report  summarized  above  was 
published,  in  cloth,  in  1905.  It  is  entered  in  the  list 
of  books  at  the  end  of  this  volume.  In  this  reissue 
the  arrangement  of  the  original  report  is  somewhat 
modified;  a  paper  on  leather  dyes  and  dyeing  has 
been  added;  the  report  of  the  scientific  sub-commit- 
tee has  been  practically  rewritten;  many  illustrations 
have  been  added,  some  of  them  colored;  12  samples 
of  leather  prepared  in  accordance  with  the  commit- 
tee's conclusions  are  inserted;  and  the  volume  is 
handsomely  printed,  and  bound  in  cloth.  The  reis- 
sue, however,  does  not  make  necessary  any  change 
in  the  above  summary.  It  is  from  this  edition  that  I 
have  taken  all  but  two  of  the  illustrations  in  this  book. 


CHAPTER  X 

List  of  Leathers,  with  Descriptive  Notes* 

American  Russia*     See  Cowhide. 

Bock  morocco.  The  name  given  to  a  leather 
made  of  Persian  sheepskin  usually  finished  in  imita- 
tion of  morocco.  It  neither  wears  nor  lasts  well. 

Bwffing.  The  name  given  to  the  thin  sheet  of 
cowhide  taken  off  in  the  operation  of  buffing  or 
splitting.  It  is  usually  of  very  inferior  quality. 

Calf  or  calfskin.  Leather  made  of  calves'  skins. 
It  has  a  smooth  and  uniform  surface.  It  was  for- 
merly much  used  in  binding,  and  is  very  beautiful; 
but  that  made  in  recent  years  lasts  only  a  sh.ort  time, 
soon  growing  hard  and  brittle  and  even  falling  into 
dust.  Even  when  new  the  surface  is  easily  broken 
and  torn. 

"During  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury it  became  customary  to  pare  down  calf  until  it 
was  as  thin  as  paper.  Since  about  1830  little  sound 
calf  seems  to  have  been  made,  as,  whether  thick  or 
thin,  it  appears  generally  to  have  perished,  turning 
red  and  crumbling  into  dust." 


*The  quotations  are  from  the  report  of  Committee  on  leather  of  the 
Society  of  Arts,  England,  1901. 

71 


72  BOOKBINDING   FOR    LIBRARIES 

"Sprinkled  or  marbled  calf  are  in  a  specially  bad 
state." — Report  '01. 

See  also  Divinity,  Kip,  Marbled,  Sprinkled,  and 
Tree  calf. 

Cowhide.  The  thick,  coarse,  leather  made  from 
the  skin  of  a  cow.  By  binders  it  is  commonly  known 
as  "American  Russia,"  or  "imitation  Russia."  It  is 
much  used  for  binding  popular  books  of  fiction.  It 
has  a  slight  grain  or  corrugation  on  the  surface,  is 
tough  and  strong,  takes  gilding  well,  wears  well  and 
if  handled  much  is  usually  quite  durable. 

Crushed  levant.  Levant  morocco  with  the  grain 
crushed  down  until  the  surface  is  smooth  and  lightly 
polished.  In  fine  binding  this  is  done  by  hand  after 
the  leather  is  on  the  book.  Most  crushed  levant 
morocco,  however,  is  surfaced  by  a  machine  before 
the  leather  is  applied. 

Divinity  calf.  A  dark  brown  calf  book  binding 
decorated  with  blindstamping,  and  without  gilding; 
so  called  because  formerly  used  in  binding  theo- 
logical books. 

French  morocco.  An  inferior  quality  of  levant 
morocco,  having  usually  a  smaller  and  less  prom- 
inent grain. 

Grain.  The  term  applied  to  the  outer  side  of  a 
piece  of  leather,  from  which  the  hair  was  removed. 
This  word  is  also  used  in  describing  the  different 
kinds  of  surface  given  to  leather  in  the  making,  often 
with  a  qualifying  adjective,  as,  seal-grain,  like  the 
grain  on  sealskin;  coarse  grain;  pebble-grained, 


LIST  OF   LEATHERS  73 

that  is,  grained  in  an  irregular  manner,  as  though 
numerous  small  pebbles  of  different  sizes  had  been 
pressed  upon  its  surface;  water  grain,  smooth  grain, 
brass  board  grain,  usually  put  into  cow-skin,  etc. 

Imitation  Russia.     See  Cowhide. 
Kip  calf.     Made  from  the  skin  of  a  heifer;  much 
stronger  than  ordinary  calf. 

Law  sheep.  Law  books  are  usually  bound  in 
sheep  left  wholly  uncolored,  hence  the  term. 

Leatherette.  Cloth  or  paper  made  to  look  like 
leather.  There  are  many  kinds  used  in  binding, 
some  of  which  look  very  well  and  wear  about  as 
long  as  poorer  kinds  of  cloth. 

Levant  morocco.  Originally  made  in  the  Levant 
from  the  skins  of  Angora  goats.  A  superior  quality 
of  morocco,  having  a  large  and  prominent  grain. 
French  levant  morocco  has  long  held  its  place  as  the 
best  of  all  leathers  for  bookbinding. 

Marbled  calf.  Calf  so  treated  with  acid  that  it 
bears  some  resemblance  to  marble. 

Morocco.  Leather  made  from  goatskins,  tanned 
with  sumac,  originally  made  in  the  Barbary  states, 
but  afterwards  very  largely  in  the  Levant,  and 
now  produced  in  Europe  and  America  from  skins 
imported  from  Asia  and  Africa.  The  peculiar  qual- 
ities of  true  morocco  are  great  firmness  of  texture, 
with  flexibility,  and  a  grained  surface,  of  which 
there  are  many  varieties.  This  surface  is  produced 
by  a  process  which  consists  largely  in  rolling  and 
folding,  called  graining.  True  morocco  is  of  ex- 


74  BOOKBINDING]  FOR  LIBRARIES 

treme  hardness,  and  makes  the  most  durable  book 
bindings;  it  is  used  also  for  upholstering  seats  and 
for  similar  purposes,  and  to  a  certain  extent  in  shoe- 
making. 

"Early  specimens  of  red  morocco,  from  the  six- 
teenth to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  were 
found  in  good  condition,  and  of  all  leathers  noticed 
this  seems  to  be  the  least  affected.  In  the  opinion 
of  the  committee,  most  of  this  leather  has  been 
tanned  with  sumac  or  some  closely  allied  tanning 
material.  Morocco  bindings  earlier  than  1860  were 
generally  found  to  be  in  fairly  good  condition;  but 
morocco  after  that  date  seems  to  be  much  less 
reliable,  and  in  many  cases  has  become  utterly  rot- 
ten."— Report  '01. 

Leather  called  morocco,  sometimes  with  a  quali- 
fying adjective,  is  now  made  in  Europe  and  America. 
Much  of  this  is  very  good,  even  when  made,  as  it 
often  is,  from  other  skins  than  those  of  goats.  Even 
the  experts  seem  often  unable  to  distinguish  the 
good  from  the  best.  None  of  it  is  to  be  condemned 
or  approved  because  it  is  or  is  not  made  in  the 
Levant,  or  from  goatskins. 

Morocco.  The  name  given  to  any  imitation, 
often  made  of  sheepskin,  of  the  genuine  morocco. 

Morocco.  For  Bock,  French,  Levant,  Persian, 
Turkey  morocco,  see  the  several  words. 

Mottled  calf.  A  light  brown  calf  book  binding, 
made  to  look  mottled  by  treatment  with  acid. 

goatskin.  Brought  from  Africa  by  the  Royal 


LIST   OF   LEATHERS  75 

Niger  Company.  A  native  production.  It  has  a 
very  beautiful  color  and  texture,  with  no  grain.  It 
has  stood  all  the  tests  given  it  without  serious  dete- 
rioration. It  does  not  keep  clean  under  handling  as 
well  as  a  good  coarse-grained  morocco.  Especially 
recommended  by  the  committee  appointed  to  in- 
vestigate leather  by  the  Society  of  Arts,  of  England. 

Persian  morocco.  A  kind  of  morocco  leather 
much  used  in  bookbinding.  It  may  be  finished  by 
graining  in  several  styles.  It  is  mostly  made  in  Ger- 
many, from  the  skins  of  hairy  sheep  called  Persian 
goats,  whence  its  name  is  derived. 

"East  Indian  or  'Persian'  tanned  sheep  and  goat- 
skins, called  'Persian  morocco'  or  'Persian  sheep,' 
which  are  suitable  for  many  purposes,  and  are  now 
used  laigely  for  cheap  bookbinding  purposes,  are 
extremely  bad.  Books  bound  in  these  materials 
have  been  found  to  show  decay  in  less  than  12 
months,  and  probably  no  book  bound  in  these 
leathers,  exposed  on  a  shelf  to  sunlight  or  gas 
fumes,  can  be  expected  to  last  more  than  five  or  six 
years." — Report  '01. 

Pigskin.  Leather  made  of  pigskin.  It  is  very 
tough  and  if  constantly  handled  wears  well. 

"Modern  pigskin,  if  genuine,  seems  to  last  very 
well  in  some  colors  and  in  an  undyed  condition; 
but  some  colored  pigskin  bindings  have  utterly  per- 
ished. Pigskin  is  naturally  a  hard  and  rather  stiff 
leather  and  is  suitable  for  large  books  rather  than 
small,  and  for  books  which  are  much  handled."  "If 


76  BOOKBINDING  FOR  LIBRARIES 

submitted  to  severe  softening  processes  in  manufac- 
ture its  durability  is  very  small." — Report  '01. 

Russia  leather*  A  fine  leather  prepared  in  Rus- 
sia, and  imitated  elsewhere,  by  very  careful  willow- 
bark  tanning,  dyeing  with  sandalwood,  and  soaking 
in  birch  oil.  It  is  of  a  brownish  red  color,  and  has 
a  peculiar  and  characteristic  odor.  The  genuine  is 
not  often  used  in  binding;  it  is  not  as  strong  as 
cowhide. 

"In  nearly  all  samples  of  Russia  leather  a  very 
violent  form  of  red  decay  was  noticed.  In  many 
cases  the  leather  was  found  to  be  absolutely  rotten 
in  all  parts  exposed  to  light  and  air,  so  that  on  the 
very  slightest  rubbing  with  a  blunt  instrument  the 
leather  fell  into  fine  dust." — Report  '01. 

Roan.  Leather  made  of  sheepskin  and  not  split. 
See  Sheepskin. 

Sheepskin*  The  commonest  leather  used  for 
binding.  When  unsplit  it  is  called  Roan.  When 
split  in  two,  the  upper  half  is  called  Skiver,  the  un- 
der or  fleshy  half  a  Flesher.  This  leather  is  easy  to 
work,  takes  gold  lettering  easily,  and  looks  fairly 
well  on  a  book.  But  it  is  not  strong,  and  most 
kinds  dry  out  and  break  within  three  to  five  years, 
even  if  much  handled.  The  leather  made  from  the 
skin  of  the  sheep  is  not  all  alike.  The  same  remark, 
already  made,  applies  to  all  the  other  leathers  in 
this  list.  The  skin  from  some  mountain-bred  sheep, 
for  example,  if  well  tanned,  makes  a  good  leather. 

"Sheepskin    bindings   of  the  early   part   of    the 


LIST   OF   LEATHERS  77 

century  are  many  of  them  still  in  good  condition. 
Sheepskin,  in  a  fairly  natural  state,  seems  to  keep 
its  flexibility,  but  it  is  very  easily  damaged  by 
friction.  Since  about  1860  sheepskin  as  sheepskin 
is  hardly  to  be  found.  We  have  instead  sheepskins 
grained  in  imitation  of  various  other  leathers,  and 
these  imitation  grained  leathers  are,  generally  speak- 
ing, in  a  worse  condition  than  any  others,  except- 
ing, perhaps,  some  of  the  very  thin  calf  bindings. "- 
Report  '01. 

Skiver.  The  outer,  hair  or  grain  side  of  sheep- 
skin which  has  been  split.  It  is  commonly  the 
thinner  of  the  two  parts,  as  when  the  inner  is  pre- 
pared for  chamois.  It  usually  looks  well,  and  is 
easily  worked;  but  is  not  strong.  Much  used  for 
bindings.  See  Sheepskin. 

Smooth  calf.     Plain  or  undecorated  calf. 

Split  leather.  Leather  split  by  machine.  Two 
or  more  pieces  or  splits  are  thus  obtained  either  of 
which  may  be  used.  The  inner  layer  is  usually  of 
inferior  quality.  Sometimes  leather  is  split  simply 
to  secure  uniformity  of  thickness  in  the  outer  parts. 

Sprinkled  calf.  Calf  so  treated  with  acid  that  it 
looks  as  if  it  had  been  spiinkled  with  a  dye. 

Tree  calf.  A  bright  brown  calf  stained  by  acids 
in  conventional  imitation  of  the  trunk  and  branches 
of  a  t;ree. 

Turkey  morocco.  Made  of  goatskins  from  Tur- 
key. It  is  very  strong,  durable  leather;  expensive, 
but  worth  the  money. 


CHAPTER  XI 
Book  Cloths  and  Imitations  of  Leather 

Art  canvas*  A  book  cloth,  made  in  several  colors 
by  the  Holliston  Mills,  67  Fifth  av.,  New  York;  Jos. 
Bancroft  &  Sons,  Wilmington,  Del.  (A.  D.  Smith,  35 
Thomas  St.,  New  York,  agent);  the  Interlaken  Mills, 
in  Duane  st.,  New  York,  and  others.  It  is  known 
both  as  art  canvas  and  buckram.  The  Newark  li- 
brary, in  experimenting  to  find  a  substitute  for 
leather,  tried  in  succession  the  green,  red,  brown 
and  blue.  The  green  proved  the  poorest,  the  blue 
made  by  Holliston  Mills  the  best,  in  wearing  qual- 
ity. One  reason  for  the  poor  results  with  all  the 
colors  tried,  with  the  exception  of  the  blue,  is  that 
the  cloth  of  these  colors  is  made  with  a  colored 
thread  running  one  way  and  a  gray  or  white  thread 
the  other;  the  colored  thread  soon  wears  off  on  the 
edges  and  corners  and  the  gray  thread  gives  the 
book  a  very  dingy  appearance.  Dark  blue  has  given 
us  the  best  results.  Art  canvas  costs  20  cents  a 
square  yard  by  the  roll  of  40  yards. 

Art  vellum.  A  book  cloth  made  in  several  colors 
and  styles  of  finish  by  the  firms  which  make  art  can- 
vas. It  is  not  suitable  for  full  binding  on  books 
subject  to  much  wear;  but  is  very  good  for  sides  on 

78      - 


BOOK    CLOTHS   AND    IMITATION    LEATHERS  /Q 

fiction  not  much  used,  and  other  books.  We  have 
used  it  with  satisfaction  for  some  time  on  some 
classes  of  books.  It  costs  about  15  cents  per  square 
yard.  Most  publishers'  bindings  are  in  cloth  of  the 
art  vellum  grade. 

Our  own  experience  with  art  canvas  and  art  vel- 
lum for  full  binding  on  books  much  used  seems  to 
have  been  that  of  many  other  libraries.  Popular 
books  in  these  materials  from  about  a  dozen  public 
libraries  all  seem  to  have  worn  poorly.  The  joints 
soon  become  soft  and  loose;  the  corners  fray  out 
and  look  ragged;  the  gold  of  the  titles  does  not 
stand  out  well  when  first  put  on  and  rapidly  grows 
dim. 

Buckram.  Properly  a  coarse  linen  cloth,  stiff- 
ened with  glue  or  gum.  Most  buckram,  so-called,  is 
made  of  cotton.  See  also  Linen  finish  buckram,  or 
Art  canvas.  . 

Buffingette.     See  Keratol. 
Canvas.     See  Duck. 

Duck,  sometimes  called  Canvas.  This  is  made 
by  many  firms  in  a  wide  range  of  colors  and  qual- 
ities. It  is  in  fact  a  heavy  cotton  cloth.  Slate-col- 
ored duck  28  in.  wide,  10  oz.  to  the  yard,  costs  about 
18  cents  per  yard.  This  is  a  firmly  woven,  smooth 
material.  We  have  used  a  light  green.  This  sets  out 
black  ink  titles  very  well,  and  seems  to  show  the 
marks  of  handling  less  than  any  other  color.  It  is  a 
very  desirable  binding  for  heavy  books  not  much 
used.  All  such  books  should  be  stiffened  by  past- 


8O  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

ing  or  gluing  cloth  on  the  backs,  if  loose  back,  and 
should  be  reinforced  at  head  and  tail. 

This  duck  or  canvas  is  not  suitable  for  full  bind- 
ing. It  has  be'en  much  used  in  this  way  by  many  li- 
braries on  popular  books.  The  results  are  very 
dreadful.  A  full  duck  juvenile  book  soon  looks  dis- 
reputable and  even  positively  offensive. 

Duck  can  be  bought  of  any  dealer  in  binder's  ma- 
terial. The  light  green  mentioned  is  from  Leclercq 
&Co.,  22  Elm  st.,  New  York.  20  cents  per  yard,  yard 
wide. 

Durabline.  A  very  strong,  handsome,  water- 
proofed, washable  cloth,  made  for  Chivers  and  much 
used  by  him. 

English  linen  or  Low  buckram.  A  linen  cloth, 
highly  polished,  well  colored,  strong,  durable,  made 
in  England,  and  costing  in  this  country  about  60 
cents  per  square  yard.  In  De  Jonge's  list  (De  Jonge, 
dealer  in  leather,  book  cloths,  etc.,  69-73  Duane  St., 
New  York)  it  is  called  Low  buckram.  We  have  used 
it  for  the  backs  of  books,  light  and  heavy.  It  prom- 
ises to  stand  indefinitely  if  not  much  handled.  Un- 
der handling  it  grows  soft  and  flabbly  like  other 
book  cloths,  though  not  rapidly,  and  without  losing 
its  strength.  We  have  discarded  it  for  the  books  we 
first  tried  it  on,  periodicals  subject  to  much  use.  It 
is  not  easy  to  letter  in  gold  by  hand,  and  does  not 
hold  gold  well  under  wear. 

Imperial  morocco  cloth.  A  grain-finished  linen- 
thread  cloth  manufactured  by  the  Winterbottom 
Book  Cloth  Company  of  England.  It  is  made  in 


BOOK    CLOTHS   AND    IMITATION    LEATHERS  8l 

different  colors;  of  these  the  library  has  tried  but 
one,  the  green.  On  books  which  have  some,  but 
not  constant  use,  it  is  a  very  good  substitute  for 
leather.  It  takes  lettering  well,  and  wears  better 
than  any  of  the  cloths  the  library  has  tried.  The 
price  is  45  cents  per  square  yard  by  the  roll,  fast 
color,  duty  paid.  (De  Jonge  &  Co.,  69-73  Duane  st, 
New  York). 

This  morocco  cloth  serves  quite  well  as  a  full 
binding  for  popular  books,  though  it  has  not  given 
the  Newark  library  as  much  satisfaction  as  to  wear 
as  half-leather. 

Keratol,  the  B  B  B  grade,  or  Buffingette,  manu- 
factured by  the  Keratol  Company,  cor.  Clifford  and 
Van  Buren  sts.,  Newark,  N.  J.,  at  35  cents  per  yard. 
A  waterproof  cloth  made  in  imitation  of  leather.  It 
is  excellent  for  the  sides  of  books  which  receive  much 
wear,  as  it  does  not  show  either  finger  or  water  marks, 
and  outlasts  the  ordinary  book  cloth.  It  cannot  be 
recommended  for  full  binding  as  it  is  difficult  to  let- 
ter and  wears  away  quickly  at  the  joints.  At  first  it 
has  a  disagreeable  odor,  but  this  wears  off.  An  ob- 
jectionable feature  is  that  labels  cannot  easily  be 
pasted  upon  it  until  its  surface  has  been  scratched. 
In  this  process  the  application  of  alcohol  aids  con- 
siderably, as  it  eats  the  outer  surface  enough  for 
paper  and  paste  or  glue  to  adhere  to  it.  The  ob- 
jectionable point  mentioned  is  overbalanced  by  its 
good  qualities. 

Linen.     See  English  linen. 


82  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

Linen-finish  buckram.  Polished  buckram  and 
satin-finish  book  cloth.  Manufactured  by  Jos.  Ban- 
croft &  Sons  Co.,  Rockford,  near  Wilmington,  Del. 
(New  York  agent,  Albert  D  Smith,  35-37 Thomas  st., 
New  York.)  The  special  features  of  these  cloths,  in 
which  it  is  claimed  they  are  superior,  are  uniformity 
of  color,  finish  and  fabric,  wearing  qualities,  tensile 
strength,  and  easy  application  of  decoration,  ink  or 
metal.  The-Newark  library  has  used  the  russet  red 
linen-finish  cloth  for  a  short  time.  (15  cents  per 
yard.)  It  has  worn  well. 

Meer's  Artificial  Leather.  A  material  similar  to 
Keratol,  sold  by  the  Manufacturers'  Commission  Co., 
69  Wall  st.,  New  York.  It  costs  25  cents  per  square 
yard,a  little  less  than  Keratol.  In  the  short  trial  the 
Newark  library  has  given  it,  it  has  been  quite  satisfac- 
tory. It  is  waterproof. 

Morocco  cloth.     See  Imperial  morocco  cloth. 

Vellum.     See  Art  vellum. 

NOTE.— The  prices  given  in  the  above  list,  and  elsewhere 
in  the'  book,  are  of  course  subject  to  change. 


CHAPTER  XII 
Technical  Terms  used  in  Bookbinding 

Taken,  with  omissions,  modifications  and  addi- 
tions, from  the  Art  of  bookbinding,  by  Jos.  W. 
Zaehnsdorf,  Manual  of  the  art  of  bookbinding,  by 
Jas.  B.  Nicholson,  Bookbinding,  by  Douglas  Cock- 
erell,  and  other  sources. 

Aldine.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

All-alongf.  When  a  volume  is  so  sewed  that  the 
thread  passes  from  kettlestitch  to  kettlestitch,  or 
from  end  to  end  in  each  sheet,  it  is  said  to  be  sewed 
ail-along. 

Antique.     See  Blind-tooled. 

Back,  tight  and  loose.  Binding  is  said  to  be  tight 
back  when  the  leather,  cloth  or  other  material  of 
the  book  is  pasted  or  glued  to  the  back  of  the 
book.  This  style  of  binding  is  commonly  used  in  fine 
work.  Most  books,  often  quite  large  ones,  were 
formerly  bound  in  this  way. 

Loose  Back.  Binding  is  said  to  be  loose  back 
when  the  leather,  cloth  or  other  material  of  the  back 
is  fastened  to  the  book  only  along  the  joints.  To 
the  question,  which  is  the  better  binding  for  library 
books,  no  definite  answer  can  be  given. 

83 


84  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

Backing.  Bending  over  the  folds  at  the  back  of 
a  book  to  form  a  ridge  or  projection  called  a  joint. 

Backing  boards.  Used  for  backing  or  forming  the 
joint.  They  are  made  of  very  hard  wood  or  faced 
with  iron,  and  are  thicker  on  the  edge  intended  to 
form  the  groove  than  upon  the  edge  that  goes  toward 
the  fore-edge  of  the  book,  so  that  when  placed  one 
each  side  of  the  book  and  all  are  placed  in  the  press, 
the  whole  power  of  the  laying  press  is  directed 
toward  the  back. 

Backing  hammer.  The  hammer  used  for  backing 
and  rounding.  It  has  a  broad,  flat  face  similar  to 
that  of  a  shoemaker's  hammer. 

Backing  machine.  A  machine  for  backing  books. 
If  not  carefully  handled  it  is  apt  to  injure  books  by 
crushing  and  breaking  the  paper  at  the  folds.  Used 
on  publishers'  binding. 

Bands.  The  strings,  cord  or  twine  on  which  a 
book  is  sewn.  They  are  usually  made  of  hemp,  are 
loosely  twisted,  are  2,  3,  4-ply  according  to  the  size 
of  the  book,  and  cost  about  35  cents  per  pound. 
This  twine  is  loosely  twisted  that  it  may  be  flexible 
and  less  likely  to  break  when  glued  and  dried,  and 
that  it  may  be  easily  frayed  out  at  the  ends  for  past- 
ing down  onto  the  inside  of  the  covers. 

When  the  book  is  sewn  flexible  the  bands  appear 
upon  the  back.  When  the  back  is  so  sewn  as  to  let 
in  the  twine,  the  appearance  of  raised  bands  is  pro- 
duced, if  at  all,  by  gluing  narrow  strips  of  leather 
across  the  back  before  the  volume  is  covered. 


TECHNICAL   TERMS  85 

Beating;  hammer.  The  heavy,  short-handled  ham- 
mer used  in  beating,  weighing  generally  about  10 
Ibs.  Books  are  beaten  to  make  the  leaves  lie  close 
to  one  another. 

Beating  stone.  The  bed  of  stone  or  iron  on  which 
books  are  beaten. 

Beveled  boards.  Very  heavy  boards  for  the  sides 
of  books  chamfered  around  the  edges;  generally 
used  only  on  large  books  in  imitation  of  antique 
work. 

Bleed.  When  a  book  on  being  trimmed  is  so  cut 
that  some  of  the  print  is  taken  off  it  is  said  to  bleed. 

Blind-tooled.  When  tools  are  impressed  upon  the 
leather,  without  gilt,  they  are  said  to  be  blind  or 
blank,  and  the  book  is  blind-tooled.  This  tooling  is 
sometimes  called  antique. 

Blocking;  press.  Another  and  more  general  term 
for  the  stamping  or  arming  press;  one  of  the  chief 
implements  used  in  cloth  work.  Used  for  finishing 
in  decorating  the  sides  and  back  of  a  cover  by  a 
mechanical  process. 

Board  papers.     Those  parts    of  the    end    papers 

which  are  pasted  onto  the  boards. 

Boards  are  of  several  kinds,  such  as  pressing, 
backing,  cutting,  burnishing,  gilding,  etc.  The  paste- 
boards used  for  side  covers  are  termed  boards.  The 
boards  used  for  cutting  books  "out  of  boards"  are 
called  steamboat  boards.  Tinned  boards  are  used 
for  finished  work,  while  brass  or  iron-bound  boards 
are  used  for  pressing  cloth  work.  See  also  In  boards. 


86  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

Book  cloths.     See  separate  list  of  these. 

Burnishers  are  pieces  of  agate  or  bloodstone  af- 
fixed to  handles.  With  them  a  gloss  is  produced  on 
the  edges  of  a  book. 

Case  work.  When  the  cover  is  made  and  stamped 
independently  of  the  book,  the  book  being  fastened 
into  it.  Refers  principally  to  cloth  bindings.  Al- 
most all  books  are  now  published  "cased." 

Collating.  Examining  the  signatures,  or  sheets, 
after  a  volume  is  gathered,  to  ascertain  if  they  be 
correct  and  follow  in  numerical  order.  Also,  exam- 
ining a  book  page  by  page  to  see  if  it  is  complete. 

Cropped.  When  a  book  has  been  cut  down  too 
much  it  is  said  to  be  cropped. 

Cutter,  or  Cutting  machine.  The  machine  on 
which  the  edges  of  the  leaves  of  books  are  cut  or 
trimmed.  Running  such  a  machine  is  now  a  special 
branch  of  the  binder's  trade. 

Decoration.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Dentelle  border.  A  tooled  pointed  border  with 
finely  dotted  or  Gascon  ornaments  in  imitation  of 
lace.  See  also  Styles  of  ornament. 

Derome.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Diaper.  A  term  applied  to  a  small  repeating  all- 
over  pattern.  From  woven  material  decorated  in 
this  way. 

Doublure.  The  inside  face  of  the  boards,  espe- 
cially applied  to  them  when  lined  with  leather  and 


TECHNICAL    TERMS  87 

decorated.     When   thus  lined  a  cover  is  said  to  be 
"double." 

Dutch  metal.  An  imitation  of  gold  leaf,  some 
times  used  on  cheap  bindings.  It  soon  grows  dark 

End  papers  The  papers  placed  at  each  end  of 
the  volume  and  pasted  down  upon  the  boards.  Also, 
the  paper  placed  at  each  end  of  the  volume,  a  portion 
of  which  is  usually  removed  when  the  lining  paper 
is  pasted  down  upon  the  boards.  Also  called  waste 
papers. 

Eve.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Extra  binding.    A  trade  term  for  the  best  work. 

Fillet.  A  cylindrical  tool  upon  which  a  line, 
lines,  or  figures  are  engraved.  Used  in  finishing. 

Finishing.  The  department  which  receives  books 
after  they  are  put  in  leather,  and  ornaments  them  as 
required.  Also,  the  ornaments  placed  on  a  book. 
One  who  works  at  this  branch  is  termed  a  finisher. 
It  includes  lettering,  tooling,  polishing,  etc. 

Finishing  press.  A  small  press  with  which  a  book 
is  held  firmly  with  its  back  upward  and  exposed  for 
work. 

Flexible.  When  a  book  is  sewn  on  raised  bands 
or  cords  and  the  thread  is  passed  entirely  round  each 
band. 

Fly  leaves.  Blank  leaves  at  front  and  back  of 
book. 

Folder.  A  flat  piece  of  bone  or  ivory  used  in 
folding  the  sheets  and  in  many  other  manipulations. 
Also  applied  to  the  person  engaged  in  folding  sheets. 


BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

Fore-edge.     The  front  edge  of  the  leaves. 

Forwarding.  All  processes  through  which  a  book 
passes  after  sewing,  other  than  those  of  ornamenta- 
tion by  means  of  tools  or  rolls.  Also  that  depart- 
ment which  takes  books  after  they  are  sewed  and 
advances  them  until  they  are  put  in  leather  ready  for 
the  finisher.  One  who  works  at  this  branch  is  termed 
a  forwarder. 

French  joint.  A  joint  in  which  the  board  is  not 
brought  close  up  to  the  back,  thus  giving  more  play 
in  opening. 

Full-bound.  When  the  sides  and  back  of  a  book 
are  entirely  covered  with  one  piece  of  the  same  ma- 
terial it  is  said  to  be  full-bound. 

Gascon,  Le.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Gathering.  The  process  of  collecting  the  several 
sheets  which  make  a  book  and  arranging  them 
according  to  the  signatures. 

Goffered  edges.  When  impressions  are  made  with 
the  finisher's  tools  on  the  edges  of  the  book  after 
gilding,  they  are  said  to  be  goffered. 

Glair.  The  whites  of  eggs  beaten  up  and  used  in 
finishing  and  gilding  the  edges  of  the  leaves. 

Gold  cushion.  A  cushion  of  leather  on  which  the 
finisher  cuts  gold  leaf  into  pieces. 

Gold  knife.  The  knife  for  cutting  the  gold;  long 
and  quite  straight. 

Graining.  The  process  of  giving  to  leather  sur- 
faces of  different  kinds. 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  89 

Grams.     See  this  entry  in  the  List  of  leathers. 
Grolier.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Groove.  That  part  of  the  sections  which  is  turned 
over  in  backing  to  receive  the  board.  Also  called 
the  Joint. 

Guards.  Strips  of  paper  inserted  in  the  backs  of 
books  to  which  plates  or  pictures  or  any  extra  leaves 
are  to  be  attached.  These  strips  must  always  be  cut 
with  the  grain.  They  make  the  back  as  thick  as  the 
book  will  be  when  the  plates  have  been  attached  to 
them.  Also,  the  strips  upon  which  plates  are 
mounted.  Also,  the  strips  of  paper  or  cloth  pasted 
along  the  fold  of  two  leaves  to  strengthen  it. 

Guillotine.  A  machine  with  a  heavy  knife  hav- 
ing a  perpendicular  action,  used  for  cutting  paper. 
Usually  called  a  Cutter,  or  Cutting  machine. 

Half  bound.  When  the  back  of  a  book  is  cov- 
ered with  leather  and  the  sides  with  paper  or  cloth. 

Hand  letters.  Letters  fixed  in  handles;  used 
singly  for  lettering. 

Head  and  tail.  The  top  and  bottom  of  the  back 
of  a  book. 

Headband.  The  silk  or  cotton  ornament  worked 
at  the  head  and  tail  of  a  book,  to  give  it  a  finished 
look,  to  strengthen  it  and  to  make  the  back  even 
with  the  squares  or  boards  which  form  its  sides. 

Head  cap.  The  fold  of  leather  over  the  head- 
band. 

In  boards.     When  a  book  is  cut  after  the  boards 


gO  BOOKBINDING   FOR    LIBRARIES  - 

are  affixed  to  form  the  sides,  it  is  said  to  be  cut  in 
boards.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  a  style  of  bind- 
ing in  which  the  boards  are  covered  with  paper  only. 

Italian.     See  Styles  of  ornament,  Aldine. 

Tansen.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Joints.  The  projections  formed  in  backing  to 
admit  the  boards.  Also  the  leather  or  cloth,  with 
its  lining,  where  it  passes  from  the  book  proper  to 
the  boards  when  the  volume  is  covered;  that  is,  the 
part  of  the  binding  that  bends  when  the  boards  are 
opened.  See  also,  French  joint. 

Kettlestitch.  As  the  sewer  draws  the  thread  out 
through  the  hole  near  the  end  of  a  signature  she 
passes  it  between  the  two  preceding  signatures 
and  around  the  thread  which  connects  them,  before 
she  passes  it  into  the  hole  in  the  signature  she  next 
lays  on.  This  is  called  the  kettlestitch,  a  word  said 
to  be  a  corruption  of  either  catch-up  stitch  or  chain 
stitch. 

Keys.  Little  metal  instruments  used  to  secure 
the  bands  to  the  sewing  bench. 

Laced  in.  When  the  boards  are  affixed  to  the 
volume  by  passing  the  bands,  strings,  or  tapes  on 
which  it  is  sewn  through  holes  made  in  the  boards, 
they  are  said  to  be  laced  in. 

Leathers.     See  separate  list  of  these. 

Lining  paper*  The  colored  or  marbled  paper  at 
each  end  of  a  book.  Called  also  End  papers;  which 
see. 

Loose  back.     See  Back,  tight  and  loose. 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  gi 

Maioli.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Mill-board.  The  boards  that  are  attached  to  the 
book  to  form  the  covers.  Several  kinds  are  in  use 
now;  the  best  is  made  of  old  naval  cordage. 

Mosaic*     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

OH-set.  The  impression  made  by  print  against 
the  opposite  page,  when  a  book  has  been  rolled  or 
beaten  before  the  ink  is  dried  ;  also  called  Set-off. 

Ornament.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Out  of  boards.  When  a  volume  is  cut  before,  the 
boards  are  affixed  it  is  done  "out  of  boards."  Nearly 
all  work  is  now  done  out  of  boards. 

Overcasting.  Sewing  the  leaves  or  signatures  of 
a  book  together  over  and  over.  Usually  done  only 
when  the  book  consists  of  single  leaves  or  plates ; 
but  is  quite  commonly  employed  now  in  rebinding 
books,  especially  on  the  last  two  or  three  signatures 
front  and  back. 

Pallet.  Name  given  to  the  tools  used  in  gilding^ 
upon  the  bands;  sometimes  applied  to  the  steel  box, 
with  a  handle,  in  which  letters  are  fastened  when 
they  are  pressed  upon  the  back. 

Panel.  The  space  between  bands  ;  also  applied 
to  beveled  and  sunk  sides. 

Paring.  Reducing  the  edges  of  the  leather  by 
cutting  them  down  to  form  a  gradual  slope.  In  large 
binderies  now  done  by  a  machine. 

Paring  knife.    The  knife  used  for  paring. 

Pastewash.     A  thin  dilution  of  paste  in  water. 


Q2  BOOKBINDING  FOR   LIBRARIES 

Payne,  Roger.     See  Styles  of  ornament. 

Petits  Fers.  Small  hand  tools  used  in  finishing, 
as  distinguished  from  the  stamps  or  blocks  worked 
in  a  press. 

Pointille.  The  dotted  style  of  ornament  of  Le 
Gascon. 

Polisher.  A  steel  instrument  for  giving  a  gloss 
to  the  leather  after  finishing. 

Press.  There  are  several  kinds  of  presses,  viz.: 
hand  press,  plough  and  press,  for  cutting,  and  stand- 
ing, stamping,  embossing,  gilding,  and  finishing 
presses. 

Pressing  boards.  Boards  put  between  books 
when  they  are  pressed.  They  are  usually  made  of 
carefully  seasoned  wood,  and  have  a  heavy  strip  of 
brass  about  their  edges,  which  projects  a  little  above 
the  board's  surface.  Books  are  laid  on  the  boards 
with  their  backs  projecting  over  this  band  enough  to 
bring  the  latter  exactly  into  the  groove  of  the  joint. 
Another  board  is  laid  on  these  books  in  the  same 
position  as  the  first,  and  so  on.  All  are  then  pressed. 

Rolling  machine.  A  machine  introduced  to  save 
the  labor  of  beating.  By  it  the  sheets  are  passed 
between  two  revolving  cylinders.  Used  in  publishers' 
binding. 

Rolls*  Wheels  of  brass,  cut  to  any  pattern,  for 
impressing  gold  leaf  on  leather. 

Saddle  stitching.  Binding  a  pamphlet  which 
consists  of  one  signature  only  by  sewing  it  through 


TECHNICAL    TERMS  93 

and  through  its  one  fold.  Usually  done  with  wire  on 
a  machine. 

Sawing  in.  Making  grooves  in  the  back  of  a  book 
with  a  saw  to  receive  strings  or  bands. 

Section.     A  folded  sheet.    See  Signature. 

Semis.  A  diaper  design,  made  up  of  the  repeti- 
tion of  one  or  more  small  tools. 

Setting  the  head.  Covering  the  headband  neatly 
with  the  leather,  so  as  to  form  over  it  a  kind  of  cap. 

Sewer.  The  person  who  sews  together  on  a  sew- 
ing bench  the  sheets,  called  when  folded  sections  or 
signatures,  to  form  a  book. 

Sewing  bench.  A  board  from  one  side  of  which 
rise  two  sticks,  across  which  is  a  bar,  which  can  be 
moved  up  and  down  and  fixed  in  any  desired  posi- 
tion. Strings,  bands,  or  tapes  are  stretched  vertically 
between  the  edge  of  the  board  and  the  cross  bar; 
against  these  the  signatures  of  a  book  are  succes- 
sively placed  and  to  them  sewn. 

Signature.  The  letter  or  figure  under  the  foot- 
line  of  the  first  page  of  each  sheet  to  indicate  the 
order  of  its  arrangement  in  the  book ;  often  applied 
to  the  sheet  itself. 

Size.  A  preparation  of  pastewash  used  in  finish- 
ing and  gilding. 

Slips.  The  ends  of  the  band,  twine  or  tape  on 
which  the  book  is  sewn  that  project  beyond  the  back 
after  it  is  sewn. 

Squares.  The  portion  of  the  boards  that  project 
beyond  the  edge  of  the  leaves  of  the  book. 


94  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

Stabbing*  The  operation  of  piercing  the  boards 
with  a  bodkin  for  the  slips  to  pass  through.  Also 
the  piercing  of  pamphlets  for  stitching.  Also  the 
process  of  fastening  pamphlets  together  with  staples 
of  fine  wire,  done  on  a  machine. 

Styles  of  ornament.  See  list  which  follows  this 
one. 

Super-  A  thin,  loosely  woven  cotton  cloth,  glued 
onto  the  backs  of  books  to  help  to  hold  the  signa- 
tures together  and,  by  extending  over  to  the  inside 
of  the  cover,  to  hold  book  and  cover  together.  In 
publishers'  binding  this  is  usually  all  that  holds  a 
book  in  its  case.  It  is  thin  and  loosely  woven  that 
it  may  be  easily  glued  down  and  starched  that  it  may 
be  easily  handled. 

Tape.  Cotton  tape  on  which  many  books  are 
best  sewn.  It  should  be  stout  but  flexible. 

Thread.  The  thread  with  which  books  are  sewn 
is  usually  made  of  linen,  unbleached.  It  comes  in 
several  sizes.  If  of  good  quality,  say  Hayes's  Stand- 
ard linen,  it  costs  about  $1.25  per  pound  for  No.  18 
2-cord. 

Silk  thread  is  sometimes  used  in  extra  binding 
and  on  very  thick  books. 

Three-quarters  bound.  When  the  back  and  cor- 
ners of  a  book  are  covered  with  leather,  and  the  sides 
with  paper  or  cloth. 

Tight  back.     See  Back,  tight  and  loose. 

Tools.     Brass  stamps   used    for  impressing   gold 


TECHNICAL   TERMS  95 

leaf  on  leather.     Applied  particularly  to  the  hand 
stamps  and  tools  used  in  finishing. 

Uncut-  A  book  is  said  to  be  uncut  when  the 
edges  of  the  paper  have  not  been  cut  with  the  cut- 
ting machine. 

Unopened.  A  book  is  said  to  be  unopened  if  the 
bolts  of  the  sheets  have  not  been  cut. 

Waste  papers.     See  End  papers. 

Whipstitching.     Same  as  Overcasting. 

Whole  binding.  When  the  leather  covers  the 
back  and  sides  of  a  volume. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
Styles  of  Ornament 

(From  a  Grolier  club  catalog) 

Aldine  or  Italian.  Ornaments  of  solid  face  with- 
out any  shading  whatever,  such  as  used  by  Aldus  and 
other  early  Italian  printers.  The  ornaments  are  of 
Arabic  character.  A  style  appropriate  for  early 
printed  literature. 

Derome.  This  style  has  ornaments  of  a  leafy 
character,  with  a  more  solid  face,  though  lightly 
shaded  by  the  graver.  The  ornaments  are  often 
styled  Renaissance,  being  an  entire  change  from  the 
Gascon.  The  Derome  is  best  exemplified  in  borders, 
Vandyke  in  design;  it  is  simple  in  construction  but 
rich  in  effect,  and  is  appropriate  for  art  publications. 
Time,  eighteenth  century. 

Eve-  A  framework  of  various  geometrical-shaped 
compartments  linked  together  by  interlaced  circles; 
the  centers  of  the  compartments  are  filled  with  small 
floral  ornaments  and  the  irregular  spaces  surrounding 
them  with  circular  scrolls  and  branches  of  laurel  and 
palm.  An  elaborate  style  of  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
and  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Gascon,  Le.  The  distinguishing  feature  of  this 
style  is  the  dotted  face  of  the  ornaments  instead  of 

96 


STYLES  OF  ORNAMENT  Q7 

the  continuous  or  solid  line.  Wherever  these  dotted 
ornaments  are  used  the  style  is  called  Le  Gascon. 
Time  of  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
immediately  following  that  of  Nicholas  and  Clovis 
Eve. 

Grolier.  An  interlaced  framework  of  geometrical 
figures— circles,  squares,  and  diamonds —with  scroll 
work  running  through  it,  the  ornaments  of  which  are 
of  moresque  character,  generally  azured  in  whole  or 
in  part,  sometimes  in  outline  only  Parts  of  the 
design  are  often  studded  with  gold  dots.  Time  first 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

Jansen.  Without  line  or  ornament  either  in 
blank  or  gold.  It  permits  decoration  on  the  inside 
cover,  but  demands  absolute  plainness  on  the  outside, 
with  the  exception  of  lettering.  It  is  only  appropri- 
ate for  crushed  levant,  it  being  dependent  for  its 
beauty  on  the  polished  surface  of  the  leather. 

Maioli.  A  style  prior  to  and  contemporary  with 
the  early  (Italian)  examples  of  the  Grolier.  Gener- 
ally composed  of  a  framework  of  shields  or  medal- 
lions, with  a  design  of  scroll  work  flowing  through  it. 
Portions  of  the  design  are  usually  studded  with  gold 
dots.  Ornaments  are  of  moresque  character. 

Mosaic.  A  design  inlaid  with  different  colors. 
The  cover  may  be  of  any  shade,  bat  the  style  is  espe- 
cially beautiful  when  the  cover  is  of  white  vellum  in 
imitation  of  illuminated  manuscripts.  Suitable  for 
ancient  manuscripts  and  the  higher  grade  books 
printed  in  colors. 


98  BOOKBINDING   FOR   LIBRARIES 

Payne,  Roger.  The  ornaments  of  this  style  are 
easily  identified,  being  free  and  flowing  in  stem  and 
flower;  whereas  before  Payne's  time  they  had  been 
stiff  and  formal.  The  honeysuckle  is  a  customary 
ornament.  The  impressions  of  the  tools  are  usually 
studded  round  with  gold  dots,  whether  used  in  bor- 
ders, corners,  or  centerpieces.  The  style  is  well 
suited  for  early  nineteenth  century  literature,  espe- 
cially poetry. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
Repairing  Books 

The  universal  rule  in  thismattcr  is,  don't.  To  this 
there  are  exceptions;  but  many,  if  not  most,  of  the 
books  which  are  repaired  are  so  injured  by  the  pro- 
cess itself,  or  by  the  wear  they  receive  after  they  are 
repaired,  that  it  would  have  been  better  for  them  if 
they  had  not  been  repaired  at  all,  but  sent  direct  to 
the  binder. 

Librarians  do  not  pay  sufficient  attention  to  book 
medicine  and  book  surgery. 

All  repairing  of  books  should  be  done  by  skilled 
persons.  The  question  of  whether  or  not  repairs 
shall  be  made  at  all  should  be  decided  by  a  person 
who  has  not  only  technical  skill  in  repairing;  but  also 
knowledge  of  the  use  to  which  the  book  in  hand  is 
likely  to  be  subjected.  This,  because  in  many  cases 
it  will  be  evident  to  a  person  who  knows  about  the 
use  books  are  to  have  that  certain  of  them  should 
not  be  repaired  at  all,  no  matter  if  in  quite  a  dilapi- 
dated condition,  with  loose  covers  and  loose  leaves; 
but  should  be  neatly  wrapped  in  good  manila  paper, 
labeled  plainly  on  the  back  and  set  again  .on  the 
shelf.  The  few  times  in  a  year  when  little-used  books 
are  wanted  do  not,  in  many  cases,  warrant  their  re- 

99 


IOO  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

binding.  Repairs  on  them,  no  matter  how  well  done, 
are  likely  to  injure  them.  Books  which  are  rarely 
borrowed,  even  though  they  are  used  occasionally, 
or  are  even  a  good  deal  handled  because  they  stand 
near  books  which  are  much  used,  should  perhaps  be 
mended  a  little;  loose  leaves  should  be  tipped  in, 
at  least.  But  work  on  them  beyond  that  is  often 
injurious. 

The  feeling  that  all  books  in  a  library  should  be 
neatly  bound  has  caused  much  unnecessary  expense. 

In  a  library  of  moderate  size,  and,  of  course,  in  a 
large  one,  there  should  be  a  supervisor  of  binding 
and  repairs;  a  person  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
whole  routine  of  library  work,  familiar  also  with 
literature,  keeping  close  watch  of  the  rise  and  fall  in 
popularity  of  new  books  Such  a  person  could  say, 
for  example,  that  the  library's  third  copy  of  the 
Valley  of  decision  and  the  fourth  copy  of  the  Crisis, 
if  ready  for  repairing  or  rebinding,  could  with  good 
economy  be  placed  on  a  reserve  shelf,  not  accessible 
to  the  public,  there  to  be  held  until  the  delivery  desk 
assistants  find  a  call  for  them.  That  is,  she  would 
know  that  with  two  or  three  copies  in  good  condition 
of  these  books  in  circulation  there  would  almost 
always  be  one  in  the  library.  When  the  library's 
stock  of  such  books  as  those  named  becomes  reduced 
to  one  sound  copy  she  can  then  tell,  from  the  de- 
mand for  it,  if  it  is  wise  to  bind  one  copy,  or  all;  or 
if  it  is  wise  to  do  more  than  mend. 

This  omniscient  person  who  has  charge  of  bind- 
ing and  repairs,  reports  to  the  head  of  the  library 


REPAIRING  BOOKS  IOI 

that  such  and  such  books  are  past  repairs;  that  they 
will  cost  35  to  50  cents 'apiece  to  be  properly  re- 
bound, and  will  the  library  ever  want  them  again? 
If  not,  then  she  will  say,  give  them  away  and  remove 
the  cards  from  the  catalog.  Or,  if  they  must  be  kept 
for  historical  or  religious  or  superstitious  or  other 
reasons,  then  let  them  be  neatly  tied  up  in  paper, 
labeled,  and  put  back  on  the  shelf. 

Technical  skill  in  mending  implies  notonly  knowl- 
edge of  the  process  of  making  a  book  by  machinery 
and  by  hand;  but  also  knowledge  of  the  different 
kinds  of  paper,  how  they  wear,  if  they  break  easily, 
if  they  will  soon  grow  brittle,  and  the  effect  on  them 
of  attempts  to  hold  them  with  paste  or  glue. 

Along  with  this  knowledge  should  also  go  knowl- 
edge of  the  cost  of  each  individual  book,  and  such 
knowledge  of  their  use  as  will  enable  the  repairer  to 
decide  at  once  whether  10,  20  or  30  cents  spent  in 
repairs  will  or  will  not  pay. 

As  long  as  there  are  so  few  assistants  who  are  at 
all  familiar  with  paper,  type,  binding,  literary  qual- 
ity, popularity,  cost,  etc.,  it  is  well  to  discourage 
almost  all  book  repairs. 

As  soon  as  we  admit,  as  we  must,  that  a  good 
book,  costing  from  one  to  two  dollars,  must  be 
mended  carefully  if  at  all,  we  have  opened  the  door 
for  a  large  expense.  An  assistant  can  easily  spend 
an  hour  or  two  on  a  book,  repairing  its  cover,  mend- 
ing a  few  leaves  and  putting  it  in  order.  When  she 
gets  through  she  will  have  put  from  30  to  50  cents' 
worth  of  time  into  it,  has  probably  permanently  in- 


BARBARA  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 


IO2  BOOKBINDING  FOR   LIBRARIES 

jured  it,  and  in  a  few  months  or  years  it  will  be  in 
worse  condition  than  if  she  had  never  touched  it  at 
all.  Moreover,  the  same  amount  of  money  put  out 
in  cash  instead  of  time  would  in  many  cases  have  re- 
bound it. 

In  a  measure  the  remarks  just  made  apply  even 
to  popular  books,  much  used  by  children  or  adults. 
It  is  easy  to  spend  more  money  in  mending  them 
than  good  economy  can  justify.  Mend  sparingly; 
rebind  early. 

The  reason  for  this  warning  against  mending  lies 
in  the  anatomy  of  the  book  and  the  injury  it  receives 
from  handling  after  it  begins  to  break  up,  and  espe- 
cially after  its  first  breaks  have  been  mended  by  a 
prentice  hand. 

The  weakest  point  in  a  book  is  the  joint.  In  pub- 
lishers' binding  of  today  this  joint  is  made  by  a  piece 
of  super,  which  is  glued  to  the  back  of  the  book  and 
then  to  the  inside  of  the  cover,  plus  the  end  paper 
which  is  pasted  over  it  and  also  onto  the  cover. 
This  super  is  weak.  If  put  on  with  a  poor  glue  which 
grows  hard  it  is  further  weakened  thereby.  It  breaks 
or  tears  easily.  It  parts  easily  from  the  back  to 
which  it  is  glued  and  also  from  the  cover.  No  strings 
or  tapes  pass  from  the  book  to  cover.  When  the 
joint  once  comes  loose  from  either  back  or  cover,  or 
breaks,  it  cannot  well  be  either  attached  or  mended 
again.  It  is  sometimes  possible  to  take  a  broken 
book  out  of  its  case  entirely,  remove  the  old  and 
attach  new  super,  add  new  end  sheets,  put  it  again 
into  the  case  and  get  considerable  use  from  it.  But 


REPAIRING  BOOKS  IO3 

any  other  kind  of  mending  of  the  joint  is  almost 
futile  and  even  this  is  injurious.  And  the  better  such 
mending  seems  at  first  to  succeed,  the  greater  the 
harm  it  is  really  doing  to  the  whole  book.  For  the 
mending  usually  consists  in  pasting  a  strip  of  strong 
paper  or  cloth  along  the  joint.  This  simply  conveys 
the  strain  from  the  joint  proper,  where  it  belongs,  to 
the  first  leaf  of  the  first  signature.  This  is  only 
paper,  usually  poor  at  that.  It  soon  breaks  and  lets 
its  other  half  loose.  Very  commonly  other  injuries 
are  worked  at  the  same  time.  The  book  gets  loose 
again,  if  it  was  ever  really  tightened.  The  super 
with  hard  glue  attached  rubs  about  on  the  backs  of 
the  signatures;  several  of  them  are  cut  through,  and 
the  possibility  of  a  rebinding,  with  proper  sewing  is 
either  gone  forever  or  can  be  regained  only  after  the 
long  labor  of  mending  many  signatures. 

When  the  cords  or  bands  are  broken  in  a  book  in 
which  they  are  used  it  is  as  useless  to  attempt  to 
fasten  book  and  cover  .together  as  it  is  when  the 
super  gives  way  in  publishers'  binding. 

Loose  leaves  appear  earliest  in  books  printed  on 
paper  which  is  so  heavy  that  it  breaks  almost  as  soon 
as  it  is  folded.  If  the  leaves  of  such  books  are  tipped 
in  they  tend  to  tear  out  with  them  the  ones  they  are 
tipped  onto.  Leaves  should  rarely  be  tipped  into 
books  which  have  never  been  rebound.  In  rebound 
books  which  are  in  their  last  days  and  will  never  be 
rebound  again  it  is  sometimes  proper  to  tip  in. 

Full-page  illustrations  which  come  loose  can  in 
most  cases  be  left  out  to  advantage.  To  tip  them 


104  BOOKBINDING   FOR   LIBRARIES 

in  again  hurts  the  leaves  they  are  fastened  to.  They 
are  usually  so  poor  that  it  is  a  kindness  to  the  reader 
to  throw  them  away. 

The  mending  of  leaves  is  easily  done  with  a 
gummed  transparent  paper. 

In  the  long  run  a  book  needing  more  than  very 
slight  repairs  will  give  better  returns  if  so  rebound 
at  once  that  it  will  hang  together  until  so  dirty  that 
it  will  have  to  be  thrown  away. 

Some  books,  especially  some  of  those  printed  on 
cheap,  heavy,  coated  paper,  will  never  pay  to  rebind. 
<They  should  be  mended,  each  according  to  its  con- 
stitution, and  when  beyond  mending  thrown  away. 

Good  general  rules  for  mending  books  are  few. 
The  first  and  most  important  of  all  is:  Be  sparing 
with  paste  or  other  stickist.  Another  is:  If  a  ma- 
chine-bound book  is  broken  at  the  joint,  the  cover 
beginning  to  part  from  the  back,  send  it  straight  to 
the  binder. 

The  best  plan  is  to  buy  your  books  as  far  as  pos- 
sible properly  bound  for  library  use  direct  from  the 
publishers'  sheets.  Such  books  never  need  mending 
or  rebinding.  Being  flexible  and  easily  opened  their 
leaves  are  rarely  torn;  and,  for  the  same  reason, 
getting  no  hard  pressure  from  moist  or  dirty  hands 
in  trying  to  keep  them  open,  their  leaves  keep  clean 
for  a  long  time. 

Books  not  thus  bound  in  the  first  place  should  be 
rebound  in  first-class  manner  when  they  begin  to 
break.  Parsimony  in  rebinding  is  a  library  thief. 


CHAPTER  XV 
Repairing  Books:    Materials  and  Tools 

In  spite  of  the  remarks  in  foregoing  paragraphs 
about  the  injury  often  done  to  books  by  repairing 
them,  even  when  the  repairs  are  cleverly  made,  it  is 
well  for  any  library,  however  small,  to  have  a  mend- 
ing table  at  which  such  work  on  books  as  seems  nec- 
essary can  be  done.  The  materials  for  this  work  can 
in  part  be  obtained  from  a  bindery.  There  one  can 
get  super,  pieces  of  book  cloth  of  several  colors,  and 
some  of  other  things  mentioned  below  and  in  the 
list  of  technical  terms.  One  needs  for  book  repairs 
some  or  all  of  the  following  things,  according  to  the 
amount  of  work  to  be  done. 

Sewing  bench.  This  can  be  made  as  follows: 
Take  a  board  24  in.  long  and  10  in.  wide.  On  the 
side  of  it  and  14  in.  apart  nail  two  uprights,  ^  in. 
square  and  a  foot  long.  Across  the  top  of  these  nail 
a  stick  24  m-  square.  Tacks  can  be  driven  into  the 
board  and  into  the  cross  stick  above  where  needed, 
and  cords  or  tapes  stretched  between  them;  and  you 
then  have  all  the  essentials  of  a  sewing  bench,  on 
which  a  book  can  be  sewed  as  well  as  on  a  regular 
bench. 

Paste.  Buy  this  at  a  bindery,  if  you  use  much. 
105 


IO6  BOOKBINDING    FOR    LIBRARIES 

For  occasional  use  it  can  be  made,  as  already  stated: 
stir  flour  in  cold  water  until  smooth,  add  hot  water, 
let  it  boil  for  a  few  minutes,  and  add  a  little  salt  and 
alum  as  preservatives.  Good  paste  can  be  bought  in 
jars.  Higgins'  is  the  best.  The  cost  is  25  cents  per 
8-ounce  jar.  Almost  any  stationer  carries  it,  or  it 
can  be  ordered  of  Charles  M.  Higgins,  168  Eighth  st., 
Brooklyn.  A  convenient  thing  for  paste  in  small 
quantities  is  the  tube.  The  several  makes  are  about 
equally  good. 

Brushes.  Buy  a  small  brush,  about  as  large  as 
a  lead  pencil,  and  another  half  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Their  prices  vary  with  their  quality,  from  10  cents 
up.  These  will  be  sufficient  for  most  purposes.  Get 
good  ones;  and  for  paste  and  glue  the  kind  set  in 
cement  not  in  glue.  Chinese  bristle  brushes  are 
good. 

Cloth.  A  yard  or  two  of  super.  This  is  stiffened 
a  little  and  pastes  and  handles  more  easily  than 
cloth.  If  you  are  going  to  put  backs  on  books  you 
will  need  also  pieces  of  bookbinder's  cloth.  These 
can  be  bought  at  almost  any  bindery  in  yard  lengths. 
Get  also  pieces  of  cambric  and  fine  muslin  called 
nainsook,  or  jaconet,  for  guarding  signatures  and 
similar  work.  It  costs  15  cents  a  yard. 

Paper.  Different  kinds  of  book  paper,  to  be 
obtained  from  any  printer,  will  be  needed  for  repla- 
cing end  sheets,  also  thin  bond  paper  for  guarding 
leaves.  Rope  manila  of  the  best  quality  will  also  be 
found  useful.  Get  also  some  of  the  rolls  of  adhesive 


MATERIALS    AND    TOOLS  1 07 

paper  sold  by  The  Dennison  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, ii  Dey  st.,  New  York  (24  inches  wide,  per 
dozen  spools  40  cents),  for  mending  torn  pages. 
Nothing  is  more  convenient. 

Gummed  paper.  Paper  and  cloth  ready  gummed 
and  other  useful  repair  material  can  be  bought  of 
Gaylord  Bros.,  Emerson  building,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Needles.  Several  sizes,  especially  the  regular 
sewing  needles  of  the  binder. 

Thread.  Some  of  Hayes's  best  Irish  linen  thread, 
smaller  size,  say  No.  18.  Or  Harbour's  linen,  No.  30. 

Knife.  A  good  knife  is  what  is  called  a  shoe- 
maker's knife,  a  long  blade,  square  at  the  end.  15 
cents.  Keep  the  corner  square  by  occasionally 
knocking  a  piece  off  the  end.  For  a  sharpener  wrap1 
a  piece  of  fine  emery  paper  about  a  square  stick  and 
tack  it  down. 

Cutting  board  The  best  cutting  board  is  one 
of  hard  wood.  A  common  bread-board  will  serve 
for  small  work  and  costs  only  a  few  cents. 

Ruler.  One  with  a  brass  edge  is  handy,  but  n6t 
essential. 

Scissors.  Slender,  6-inch  blades,  good  quality. 
75  cents. 

FoHer.     Flat  piece  of  bone.     15  cents. 

Glue  pot.  Get  the  regular  double  pot  of  iron. 
A  No.  2  will  cost  about  75  cents. 

Ground  glue.     Best,   18  cents  a  pound. 

Copying  press.  For  pressing  books.  Oneioxi2 
inches  will  cost  about  $3.75. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
Binding  Records 

By  binding  records  are  meant  the  reports  of 
books  sent  to  the  bindery,  their  return,  styles,  cost, 
etc.  There  are  many  ways  of  keeping  these.  For 
the  small  library  great  simplicity  is  desirable,  and 
possible.  The  large  library  usually  works  out  a 
method  adapted  to  its  own  conditions. 

In  sending  books  to  a  binder  it  is  usually  not 
necessary  to  keep  any  record  other  than  the  book 
card,  on  which  may  be  written  or  stamped  the  word 
Binder  and  the  date  sent.  To  this  may  be  added  a 
few  words  or  a  number  indicating  material  and  style. 
The  binder  himself  is  usually  content  with  general 
instructions  for  each  separate  lot,  such  as,  "These  25 
vols.  bind  in  half  brown  cow-skin  with  keratol  sides; 
special  sewing."  Some  libraries  attach  a  note  to  the 
title-page  of  each  book  saying  how  it  is  to  be  bound 
and  giving  the  lettering  for  the  back.  This  is  not 
often  necessary.  It  is  usual  to  note  the  latter  point 
on  the  title-page  by  underscoring  the  first  letter  of 
each  word  which  is  to  appear  on  the  back.  In  doing 
this  reduce  the  lettering  as  far  as  possible  by  omit- 
ting unnecessary  words.  In  most  libraries,  for  exam- 
ple, the  new  title  for  "The  adventures  of  Huckleberry 

108 


BINDING    RECORDS  IOQ 

Finn"  can  be  reduced  to  advantage  to"Huck  Finn." 
Special  books  must  be  specially  marked  of  course, 
and  books  in  sets  and  series  should  be  lettered  in  the 
same  style  throughout.  This  can  be  assured  by  send- 
ing a  sample  volume  or  a  rubbing  of  the  back.  The 
rubbing  is  got  by  laying  a  piece  of  paper  on  the  back 
of  the  volume  the  style  of  which  is  to  be  copied  and 
rubbing  it  hard  with  a  large,  soft  pencil  or  rub-off 
wax. 

As  books  are  returned  they  should  be  checked  by 
whatever  record  was  kept  of  them.  Then  their  num- 
ber, sizes  and  styles  should  be  entered  in  a  book  kept 
for  the  purpose.  From  these  items  the  bill  will  be 
checked  when  sent  in. 


Makers  and  Dealers  in  Bookbinders'  Materials 
and  Machinery 

Jos.  Bancroft  &  Sons,  Manufacturers,  Rockford,  Wilmington, 
Del.  Book  cloths.  Albert  D.  Smith,  35  and  37  Thomas  St.,  New 
York,  New  York  agent. 

John  Campbell  &  Co.,  164  William  St.,  New  York.  Leathers, 
book  cloths,  marble  papers,  etc. 

Cedric  Chivers,  1242  Fulton  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  Port- 
way,  Bath,  England.  Binder  from  pubfishers'  sheets,  rebinder, 
art  binder.  Has  special  binding  material. 

Crawley  Book  Machinery  Company,  Newport,  Ky.  Book- 
binders' machinery. 

Louis  De  Jonge  &  Co.,  67-73  Duane  St.,  New  York.  Leather, 
book  cloths,  fancy  paper,  bookbinders'  supplies  and  machinery. 

Gane  Bros.,  81  Duane  St.,  New  York.  Leathers,  cloths, 
boards,  bookbinders'  supplies  and  machinery  of  every  descrip- 
tion. 

Thos.  Garner  &  Co.,  181  William  st.  and  22  Spruce  St.,  New 
York.  Manufacturers  of  leathers  and  bookbinders'  supplies. 

'FGaylord  Bros.,  117  Emerson  building,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.    Book- 
repair  material  of  many  kinds. 

The  H.  Griffin  &  Sons  Company,  75-77  Duane  St.,  New 
York.  Leathers,  book  cloths,  marble  papers  and  bookbinders' 
materials  of  every  description. 

The  Hamilton  Manufacturing  Company,  main  office  and 
factory,  Two  Rivers,  Wis.  Eastern  office  and  warehouse,  Mid- 
dletown,  N.  Y.  Bookbinders'  furniture  and  supplies. 

C.  B.  Hewitt  &  Brothers,  48  Beekman  st.,  New  York.  Paper, 
boards  and  glue. 

Holliston  Mills,  67  Fifth  av.,  New  York.     Book  cloths. 

110 


MAKERS   AND   DEALERS  III 

Hoole  Machine  and  Engraving  Works,  29  Prospect  St.,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.  Manufacturers  of  bookbinders'  tools  and  machinery. 

Interlaken  Mills,  in  Duane  St.,  New  York.     Book  cloths. 

Keratol  Company,  cor.  South  and  Van  Buren  sts.,  Newark, 
N.  J.  Manufacturers  of  imitation  leathers. 

Latham  Machinery  Company,  195-201  S.  Canal  St.,  Chicago, 
111.  Manufacturers  of  bookbinders'  and  printers'  machinery. 

Leclercq  &  Co.,  22-26  Elm  St.,  New  York.  All  grades  of 
bookbinders'  papers. 

Lindenmeyr  &  Sons,  20  Beekman  St.,  New  York.     Paper. 

Manufacturers'  Commission  Co.,  69  Wall  St.,  N.  Y.  Meer's 
artificial  leather. 

J.  W.  O'Bannon  Company,  74  Duane  St.,  New  York.  Dealers 
in  all  bookbinders'  supplies. 

Premier  Machine  Works,  164  William  St.,  New  York.  Book- 
binders' material. 

C.  &  W.  Pyle  Company,  4th  and  Van  Buren  sts.,  Wilming- 
ton, Del.  Bookbinders'  material. 

Schulte  &  Co.,  51  N.  7th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Leather  and 
book  cloths. 

T.  W.  &  C.  B.  Sheridan,  58  Duane  St.,  New  York.  Book- 
binders' machinery. 

J.  L.  Shoemaker  &  Co.,  I5th  and  S.  6th  sts.,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.  Machinery,  paper,  ^leather,  etc. 

Stark  &  Selig,  458  W.  Broadway,  New  York.  Book  stamps 
and  embossing  dies. 

F.  Wesel  Manufacturing  Company,  82  Fulton  St.,  New  York. 
Bookbinders'  machinery. 


A  few  of  the  Best  Books  on  Bookbinding,  Paper 
and  Leather 

Paul  Adam.  Practical  bookbinding  $1.25.  Van  Nostrand. 
New  York.  1903.  This  is  a  translation  from  the  German,  the 
author  being  the  director  of  the  Diisseldorf  Technical  School  of 
Artistic  and  Practical  Bookbinding.  It  treats  mainly  of  the 
practical  side  of  binding  and  describes  with  considerable  detail 
the  materials  used  in  the  work.  It  is  illustrated  mostly  with 
outline  cuts  which  aid  the  reader  or  student  to  understand  the 
several  methods  and  processes. 

W.  S.  Brassington.  History  of  the  art  of  bookbinding. 
$10.00.  Stock.  London.  1894.  Interesting  illustrations  of  an- 
cient records  before  book  making.  Notices  of  printers,  collect- 
ors, binders  and  famous  books.  Appendix  C  gives  samples  and 
brief  descriptions  of  oriental  forms  of  binding.  Very  good 
general  work. 

J.W.Butler.  The  story  of  paper  making.  $1.25.  Butler 
Paper  Co.  Chicago.  1901.  An  interesting  account  of  paper 
making  from  its  earliest  known  record  down  to  the  present  time. 

Cedric  Chivers.  Improvements  in  the  binding  of  books. 
Free.  Cedric  Chivers.  Bath,  England.  Description  of  the 
methods  used  by  Chivers  in  his  own  bindery.  The  writer  has  a 
high  reputation,  and  probably  binds  books  more  satisfactorily 
for  libraries  than  any  binder  in  the  world  today. 

Douglas  Cockerell.  Bookbinding  and  the  care  of  books. 
$1.25  net.  Appleton.  New  York.  1902.  Text-book  of  workshop 
practice  from  personal  experience  and  critical  examination  of 
methods  current  in  shops.  It  supplements  workshop  training 
and  is  a  help  in  the  selection  of  sound  bindings.  The  best  single 
book  for  the  librarian. 

112 


BEST    BOOKS   ON    BINDING  113 

Douglas  Cockerell.  A  note  on  bookbinding  .  .  .  with  ex- 
tracts from  the  special  report  of  the  Society  of  Arts  on  leather 
for  bookbinding.  London.  Issued  by  W.  H.  Smith  &  Son,  for 
their  bookbinding  department.  1904.  Price  I  penny. 

Gane  Brothers.  Bookbinders' stock.  Free.  Gane.  81  Duane 
St.,  New  York.  A  trade  catalog,  giving  cuts  of  articles  as  well 
as  prices. 

A.  Growoll.  The  profession  of  bookselling.  2v.  $4.00  net. 
Publisher's  Weekly.  New  York.  1895.  Contains  an  excellent 
article  on  bookbinding  with  descriptions  of  leather  and  other 
cover  material,  cost  and  other  details.  A  list  of  authorities  is 
given  and  a  description  of  technical  terms.  Brief,  but  there  is 
nothing  better,  except  Cockerell. 

Hulme,  Parker  and  others.  Leather  for  libraries.  Published 
for  the  Sound  leather  committee  of  the  Library  association, 
England,  by  the  Library  Supply  Company.  London.  1905. 
Price  40  cents.  A  summary  of  the  report  of  the  committee  of 
the  Society  of  Arts,  brought  down  to  date,  and  with  helpful 
notes  added.  Includes  small  samples  of  leather. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.  4  nos.  20  cents  each.  London. 
Sept.  ii,  18,  25,  Oct.  2,  1903.  Four  lectures  delivered  by  Julius 
Hiibner,  director  of  the  paper  making  department,  at  the  Munic- 
ipal School  of  Technology,  Manchester,  Eng.,  giving  a  practical 
treatise  on  paper  making.  Also  issued  as  "Canton  Lectures"  in 
one  pamphlet,  same  society.  25  cents. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts.  20  cents.  London.  July  5, 
IQOI.  Report  of  a  committee  on  leather  for  bookbinding.  The 
decay  of  leather,  a  subject  which  has  attracted  a  great  deal  of 
attention  and  interest  among  librarians  and  collectors.  The 
best  thing  for  librarians  ever  published  on  leather. 

Report  of  the  committee  on  leather  for  bookbinding.  (A 
reissue  of  the  above.)  Edited  by  Cobham  and  Wood  for  the 
Society  of  Arts.  $2.80.  London.  Bell.  1905.  Contains  some 
material  on  dyeing  of  leather  not  in  the  original  report,  has  nu- 
merous illustrations,  12  samples  of  leather,  well  printed,  bound 
in  cloth. 

S.  T.  Prideaux.    An  historical  sketch  of  bookbinding.    $1.50 


114  BOOKBINDING  FOR   LIBRARIES 

net.  Lawrence.  London.  1893.  Intended  as  a  help  in  the 
first  steps.  A  chronological  table  of  French  and  English  sover- 
eigns is  added  with  a  bibliography  and  explanation  of  technical 
terms.  An  appendix  treats  of  ornamentation. 

Society  of  Arts — Committee  on  the  deterioration  of  paper. 
Report  .  .  .  with  two  appendixes:  i,  abstracts  of  paper  on 
German  official  tests,  1885-96;  2,  correspondence.  London. 
1898.  25  cents. 

J.  W.  Zaehnsdorf.  The  art  of  bookbinding.  $1.25.  Bell. 
London.  1880.  Step  by  step  an  imaginary  book  is  bound,  as 
in  an  "  extra  shop,"  to  show  the  amateur  how  to  bind  his  own 
book  or  how  to  know  a  good  binding  when  purchasing.  Illus- 
trations of  machinery  used  are  given  and  practical  receipts. 


Index 


Acids  used  in  dyeing,  Effects 

of,  67-68 

Aldine,  style  of  ornament,  96 
All-alpng,  83 

American  Russia  leather,  71 
Anatomy  of  a  joint  (cut),  34 
Antique,  see  Blind-tooled,  83 
Art  canvas,  78 
Art  vellum,  78 
Back  of  book  reinforced,  35 
Backing,  84 
Backing  boards,  84 
Backing  hammer,  84 
Backing  machine,  84 
Backing  the  book,  27-28 
Ballard's  clips,  48 
Bands,  84 

Beating  hammer,  85 
Beating  stone,  85 
Best  binding  the  cheapest,  19 
Beveled  boards,  85 
Binder's  workshop  in  1771,  vi 
Binding,  How  to  test,  37 
Binding  records,  108-109 
Binding,   Specifications    for, 

41-44 
Bindings,  Wear  of,  statistics, 

15, 16 

Binding;  the  process,  20 
Bindings  for  a  library,  38-40 
Bleed,  85 
Blind-tooled,  85 
Blocking  press,  85 
Board  papers,  85 
Boards,  37,  85 
Bock  morocco,  71 
Book  cloths,  78-82 
Book  paper,  59 
Bookbinding  as  a  craft,  17 
Bookbinding  terms,  83-95 


Bookbinding  tools,  illustra- 
tion, vi,  vii 

Books,  when  to  bind,  50-52 

Books  on  bookbinding,  paper 
and  leather,  112-114 

Brushes,  described,  106 

Buckram,  79 

Buckram,  Low,  80 

Buffing,  71 

Buffing  as  a  material  for 
binding,  38 

Buffingette,  81 

Burnishers,  86 

Calendered  paper,  60 

Calfskin,  71 

Canvas,  see  Duck,  79 

Case  work,  86 

Cloth,  English  Imperial  mo- 
rocco, for  sides,  38 

Cloth  for  bookbinding,  78-82, 
106 

Coated  paper,  60,  61 

Collating,  86 

Committee  on  leather  for 
bookbinding,  report  65-70 

Copying  press,  107 

Corners,  39 

Cowskin,  38,  72 

Cropped,  86 

Crushed  levant,  72 

Cutter,  86 

Cutting  board,  107 

Dealers  in  bookbinders'  ma- 
terials and  machinery,  110- 
iii 

Dentelle  border,  86 

Derome,  style  of  ornament, 
96 

Deterioration  of  leather,  66 

Diaper,  86 


INDEX 


Divinity  calf,  72 

Doublure,  86 

Duck,  40,  79-80 

Durabline,  38,  80 

Dutch  metal,  for  titles,  36, 87 

Dyes,  Effects  of,  on  leather, 
64 

East  India-tanned  leather,  69 

End  papers,  87 

End  sheets,  42 

English  linen,  80 

Eve,  style  of  ornament,  96 

Extra  binding,  87 

Fillet,  87 

Finishing,  87 

Flexible  binding,  31  (cut),  87 

Flexible,  87 

Fly  leaves,  30,  41 

Fly  leaves,  87 

Folder,  87,  107 

Fore-edge,  88 

Forwarding,  88 

French  joint,  28  (cut),  33,  88 

French  morocco,  72 

Full-bound,  88 

Gas  fumes,  Effects  of,  on 
bindings,  68 

Gascon,  Le,  style  of  orna- 
ment, 96 

Gathering,  88 

Glair,  88 

Glue,  37,  107 

Goffered  edges,  88 

Gold  for  titles,  36 

Gold  cushion,  88 

Gold  knife,  88 

Grain,  72 

Graining,  88 

Grolier,  style  of  ornament,  97 

Groove,  89 

Guarding,  32,  35 

Guards,  89 

Guillotine,  89 

Gummed  paper,  107 

Half-bound,  89 

Hand  letters,  89 


Hand-made  paper,  56 

Head  and  tail,  89 

Headband,  25,  89 

Headcap,  89 

Heat,  Effect  of  on  leather,  68 

Higgin's  paste,  106 

High  grade  bindings,  18 

Imitation  Russia,  73 

Imperial  morocco  cloth,  80 

In  boards,  89 

Italian,   style  of    ornament, 

See  Aldine,  96 
Jansen,  style  of  ornament,  97 
Joint,  anatomy  of  34  (cut),  34, 

OX),  102,  IO3 

Joints,  90 

Keratol,  38,  81 

Kettlestitch,  90 

Keys,  90 

Kip  calf,  73 

Knife,  107 

Lacing  in  cords,  31  (cut),  31, 

37,90 

Law  sheep,  73 
Leather,  Books  on,  112-114 
Leather,  Deterioration  of,  66 
Leather;  general  notes,  63-70 
Leather,  Imitations  of,  78-82 
Leatherette,  73 
Leathers,  List  of,  71-77 
Leaves  at  front  and  back,  30 
Lettering,  36 
Levant,  Crushed,  72 
Levant  morocco,  73 
Life  histories  of  books,  16 
Linen-finish  buckram,  82 
Lining  paper,  oo 
Literary  side  of  binding,  49- 

53 

Loose  back,  37,  83 
Loose  backs,  37 
Low  buckram,  80 
Machine-made  paper,  56 
Machines  for  binding  books, 

20 


INDEX 


Machines  for  sewing  books, 
20 

Magazine  covers,  47,  48 

Maioli,  style  of  ornament,  97 

Makers  of  bookbinders'  ma- 
terials and  machinery,  I  lo, 
in 

Marble  paper  for  sides,  40 

Marbled  calf,  73 

Meer's  Artificial  leather,  38, 
82 

Mending,  33,  104 

Mill-board,  91 

Morocco,  39,  73,  74 

Morocco  cloth,  Imperial,  80 

Mosaic,  style  of  ornament,  97 

Mottled  calf,  defined,  74 

Naude  on  bookbinding,  viii 

Needles,  107 

Newark  binding  statistics, 
16,17 

Newspaper  paper,  59 

Newspapers,  40 

Niger  goat,  66,  74 

Off-set,  91 

Ornament,  Styles  of,  96-98 

Out  of  boards,  91 

Overcast  sewing,  17,  32,  91 

Oxalic  acid,  69 

Pallet.  91 

Pamphlets,  45-49 

Panel,  91 

Paper,  books  on,  112-114 

Paper  making,  54-62 

Paper-making  machine,  57- 
58 

Paper,  coated,  calendered, 
handmade,  56,60,61,106 

Paring,  91 

Paring  knife,  91 

Paste,  how  to  make,  35,  69, 
105-106 

Paste  wash,  91 

Payne,  Roger,  style  of  orna- 
ment, 98 


Periodicals,    Best    materials 

for  binding,  39 
Persian  morocco,  75 
Petits  fers,  92 
Pictures,  30,  36 
Pigskin,  38,  75 
Plated  paper,  60 
Plates,  36 
Pointille,  92 
Polisher,  92 
Press,  92 

Pressing  boards,  92 
Publishers'    bindings,    wear 

of,  14 

Pulling  apart  books,  30 
Rag  paper,  55 
Rebindmg,  30,  41 
Rebindings,  wear  of,  14 
Red  decay,  67 
Reference  books,  rebinding, 

39  . 

Repairing  books,  99-107 

Roan,  76 

Rolling  machine,  92 

Rolls,  92 

Rounding,  27 

Rubbing  of  book  title,  109 

Russia  leather,  76 

Saddle  stitching,  92 

Sawing  in,  93 

School  text-books,  23 

Section,  93 

Semis,  93 

Sewer,  93 

Sewing  bench,  93,  105 

Sewing  by  hand,  process  de- 
scribed, 23-25 

Sewing  for  rebinding,  31-32 

Sewing  large  books,  32 

Sewing  on  tapes  (cut),  26 

Sewing,  Method  of  (cut),  21 

Sheepskin,  76 

Signature,  93 

Size,  93 

Skiver,  77 

Slips,  93 


INDEX 


Smooth  calf,  77 

Society  of  Arts  report,  65-70 

Society  proceedings,  39 

Specifications  for  binding, 
41-44 

Split  leather,  77 

Sprinkled  calf,  77 

Squares,  93 

Stabbing,  94 

Stetson  magazine  cover,  48 

Stuff,  55,  56 

Styles  of  ornament,  96-98 

Sunlight,  Effects  of,  on  bind- 
ings, 68 

Super,  94 

Supervisor  of  binding  and 
repairs,  100 

Tape,  94 


Tapes,  Sewing  on  (cut),  26 
Technical    terms,   used     in 

bookbinding,  83-95 
Thread,  42,  94,  107 
Three-quarters  bound,  94 
Tight  back,  37,  83 
Tobacco  smoke,   Effects  of, 

on  bindings,  68 
Tools,  94 
Tree  calf,  77 
Turkey  morocco,  77 
Uncut,  95 
Unopened,  95 
Waste  papers,  87 
Whipstitching,  32,  35,  42,  43, 

Whole  binding,  95 
Wood  pulp  paper,  54,  55 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara  College  Library 
Santa  Barbara,  California 


Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


LD  21-10m-10,'43 
(Blllls4)476 


z 
271 

D3 


000733944     3 


